The New York City Council has passed a bill mandating that the city’s school bus fleet be fully electric by 1 September 2035. This is in accordance with the decision to allow only zero-emission passenger cars and light commercial vehicles to be sold from 2035.

        The bill passed with 44 votes in favour and one vote against, and Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to sign the bill into law soon. A loophole is included in the bill, however, as it is “subject to the commercial availability and reliability of all-electric school buses, and the technical and physical availability of related planned infrastructure”.

        Given the state’s interest in going emissions-free, especially under the directive of the new EV sales regulation, it is unlikely that the required infrastructure will not be built in the coming 14 years. The city estimates that the conversion of the 885 City-owned diesel school buses to electric, as well as the procurement of the required electric charging stations and electrical infrastructure, would cost a total of $367.3 million by 2035.

        In addition to the bus mandate, the city also already decided that non-emergency fleet vehicles need be electric vehicles by 2040, and requires all parking facilities to include electric vehicle chargers for at least 20% of parking spaces.