The average Minnesota student spends approximately one hour every day riding a school bus. Buses are the most common way for children to get to and from school, but the air quality inside buses can be up to five times as polluted as the air quality outside.
The Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) are partnering with the Minnesota Environmental Initiative’s Project Green Fleet to improve the environmental standards of older buses. Project Green Fleet provides and installs air quality retrofit equipment, normally valued at $1,500-2,000, at no cost to fleets or districts.
Act Now! Your school district can clean up its buses for free! Children will breathe easier and your local air quality will be improved, all with no impact on the performance of the buses. Learn more and take action at http://greenfleet.mncerts.org.
Why Act? Diesel vehicles account for 10% of traffic on Minnesota roads, but account for more than 50% of all traffic related air pollution. With a simple, free retrofit by Project Green Fleet, we can reduce emissions by 30-50% per vehicle.
The emission reductions directly benefit students and employees that ride and work around the buses. “Our company chose to participate in Project Green Fleet to take a proactive approach in helping reduce pollutants in the air we breathe for the safety of our children and employees,” said Jim Koonst, owner of Stier Transportation Services in Belle Plaine, MN. This strong leadership demonstrated by transportation managers, such as Koonst, coupled with proactive community action, has been key to the program’s success.
Diesel exhaust contains a variety of pollutants, which contribute to the formation of ground level ozone, or smog. These pollutants harm human health, increasing the risk of heart and lung disease and can trigger upper respiratory problems, such as asthma. Children are especially vulnerable to these ailments as they breathe more air per pound than adults, and their bodies are still developing.
Over 1,700 buses across the state have participated in Project Green Fleet so far. Together, CERTs and Project Green Fleet have the goal of retrofitting every eligible bus in the state. The voluntary measure has been successful due in part to the ease of installation. Some transportation directors were unsure of the process at the beginning. “I wanted to see that other districts had done this successfully before we retrofitted our buses. But I should not have worried. Everything went really smoothly for us—the installations were seamless,” said Denny Coughlin of Minneapolis Public Schools.
Take action today by visiting http://greenfleet.mncerts.org and learning more!
Video about Project Green Fleet:
Share: If you can’t influence a bus fleet directly but still want to let others know about this opportunity, help us by spreading the word!
