The Cowichan Valley School District is happy to announce that the District’s first fully electric school bus has rolled into town and will soon be safely transporting students to and from school.
The IC Bus, type C electric school bus will not only benefit students and staff by being smoother and quieter than their diesel counterparts, the bus will save over 2000L of diesel fuel every year. Switching to electric buses also saves approximately 5533Kg of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.
“We are excited to welcome the first of our electric school buses to the Cowichan Valley,” said Candace Spilsbury, Chair of the Board of Education for the Cowichan Valley School District. “The transition to an electric bus is part of our commitment to our students, environment, and future. This is another concrete action that we are taking as a result of our Strategic Plan and our Climate Crisis Declaration.”
“As a mother (with a soon to be kindergartener in SD79) and one of the leads with For Our Kids Cowichan, I’m thrilled that the Cowichan Valley School District is receiving one of the 15 electric school buses from the province. Not only does an electric school bus emit far less greenhouse gasses than diesel school buses, it also means cleaner air for kids and our local airshed. While I’m encouraged by this as a first step toward greener, cleaner transportation for children in the district, I also hope that we will see a BC commitment to get to a 100% electric fleet as part of a response to the climate crisis,” offered Ellen Robson, co-lead of For Our Kids Cowichan team.
The bus will be more than transportation for students, and it will also be used as an educational tool for schools and the community. There will be plenty of opportunity for others to see the new bus as restrictions are eased so look for the bus at events in the future.
