Electrifying School Buses in the Bronx and Beyond (ESB3)
Emissions from diesel school buses are harmful to children and disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities like those found near the Zerega school bus depot in the Bronx. While electric school buses (ESBs) are commercially available, significant deployment barriers remain including driver and mechanic knowledge gaps and the difficulties of planning charging infrastructure.
The "Electrifying School Buses in the Bronx and Beyond (ESB3)" project helps address these challenges. The NYCSBUS (opens in new window) team is working on a multi-pronged project to help electrify buses in the Bronx and around the state, conduct charging infrastructure planning to reduce costs, and train the electric school bus workforce.
Project ESB3 will deploy 30 ESBs at the NYCSBUS Bronx Zerega depot. The project strategy will be replicated to electrify the entire NYCSBUS bus fleet of nearly 1,000 buses by 2035.
The ESB3 project will develop customized managed charging plans to control costs. The project will use vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology at the Zerega depot in the Bronx, and NYCSBUS's Greenpoint dispatch center in Brooklyn will serve as a testbed for infrastructure configurations, including vehicle-to-building (V2B) operations and space-saving innovations like pole-mounted chargers, which will also feed into the Innovation Cluster's curriculum.
The team will partner with school districts around the state to offer technical guidance as school districts make their transition to electric school buses- this support will include the development of fleet electrification plans, as well as outreach and education support.
Project Progress
Supporting the Clean Transportation Transition with Electric School Buses in the Bronx and Beyond
What is the New York City School Bus Umbrella Services (NYCSBUS)?
Fueled by a commitment to “prioritiz[e] safety, environmental responsibility, and trust” 
, NYCSBUS is a non-profit organization that is improving the school bus experience for residents and schools across the New York City communities their fleet serves, and beyond. Since their founding in 2021, they’ve acquired over 900 vehicles and secured over $100,000,000 for their work supporting six depots across New York City.
Shaped by Support, Identifying Opportunities for Transformation
The Castle Hill and Hunts Point areas of the Bronx are situated near a number of major highways and truck distribution depots that lack open green space. This location presented a prime opportunity to improve air quality conditions for children and families living in the area with an environmentally friendly new school bus project at Zerega depot.
NYSERDA’s New York Clean Transportation Prize (NYCTP) initiative offered NYCSBUS the financial support for electric vehicle (EV) bus chargers and related infrastructure in the Bronx’s Zerega depot, a vehicle-to-building enabled charger at Greenpoint depot in Brooklyn, grid management capability, and informational resources for other school districts — all which will help meet statewide sustainability goals while providing an essential service to two NYC boroughs. In collaboration with the World Resources Institute , NYCSBUS and through the NYCTP initiative brought together a powerful team to enact change in the school bus market: The Mobility House , New York League of Conservation Voters , CALSTART , and Bronx Community College .
In addition, NYCSBUS’s project was awarded two EPA Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) grants to pay for electric school buses — a clear recognition of this electric school bus transition’s value for the community.
With this funding, bringing clean air and transportation options to the Bronx area is becoming a reality; NYCSBUS is transforming the daily school commute with the installation of EV charging stations, and they are meeting the incremental costs associated with owning and operating the new buses.
Leading by Example and Empowering Communities to Be the Change
NYCSBUS’s project was always intended to serve as an example of how to implement electric school buses within the larger statewide community and beyond. As part of this project, the team is taking on other initiatives including statewide outreach, the development of Fleet Electrification Plans, presentations at conferences, and refined EV curricula for electric school buses and their chargers. Educational materials developed by Bronx Community College will also serve as a go-to resource for technical assistance and other commonly asked questions from the community.
In alignment with NYSERDA’s mission to help mitigate the effects of climate change and vehicle emissions in New York communities, NYCSBUS has become a trusted community partner in New York City and beyond. CEO Matt Berlin has presented on numerous webinars about electric school buses. And with support from the Prizes initiative as well as additional community funding, NYCSBUS is leading the charge to promote school bus electrification solutions across New York State.