Amherst Celebrates Launch of Electric School Bus Fleet

Source: Highland Electric Fleets

The following article was written with the assistance of Perplexity AI.

The Amherst-Pelham Regional School District celebrated the launch of its electric school bus fleet with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 28 that brought together district leaders, transportation partners and community members at the district’s transportation facility at the Amherst Regional Middle School.

The event highlighted a project that district officials say is meant to do more than replace diesel buses. It represents a broader effort to improve the daily ride for students, cut tailpipe emissions and modernize one of the most visible parts of school operations. The district partnered with Highland Electric Fleets to deploy three Thomas Built Jouley Type C electric school buses, along with one existing electric bus already owned by the district, as part of a larger electrification program.

The celebration came nearly two years after Amherst-Pelham Regional Public Schools first received federal funding to begin transitioning its fleet and seven years after Mothers Out Front Amherst began a campaign in support of electrification.

In 2024, the district was awarded $600,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus program to help purchase three new electric buses, part of a broader statewide effort to replace fossil-fueled buses with cleaner models. The district also had one electric bus on order through an earlier EPA-funded program, according to reporting at the time.

At the April 28 ribbon cutting, Superintendent Dr. E. Xiomara Herman said the transportation project reflected the district’s values as much as its operational needs. “This is about more than buses,” Herman said in a statement released ahead of the event. “It is about how we show up for students every day.” She added that moving to electric buses would reduce the district’s environmental footprint while providing “a quieter, healthier ride to and from school”.

The district’s new charging setup is part of what makes the project more than a symbolic gesture. Four new Tellus 60kW DC fast chargers, which are V2G-enabled, were installed alongside one existing charger to support daily operations and allow for future expansion. The infrastructure gives the district the ability to support the buses as they move through regular service and creates a foundation for more electrified transportation down the road.

For Amherst, the rollout places the district among a growing number of Massachusetts communities adopting electric school buses as state and federal leaders push schools toward cleaner transportation. Gov. Maura Healey praised the federal awards in 2024, saying every Massachusetts student deserves to breathe clean air and describing diesel school buses as a major source of air pollution that can harm children’s health.

Highland Electric Fleets, the company partnering with the district, has played a central role in the transition. In 2024, district officials said they were negotiating a lease agreement with Highland after the company applied for the federal grant on Amherst’s behalf. The firm’s model has become common in school bus electrification efforts because it can package buses, chargers and support services into one project structure for districts that may not have the resources to manage the transition on their own.

The Amherst project also comes with a practical promise: the buses are expected to make the ride to school quieter and smoother for students and drivers alike. Electric buses typically eliminate idling emissions and reduce engine noise, which can matter most in residential neighborhoods and near school buildings. For a town that has long described itself as environmentally conscious, the buses offer a highly visible example of policy becoming daily practice.

The move does not mean the district’s work is finished. The infrastructure must still support reliable service across routes, weather conditions, and school schedules. But the ribbon cutting suggested Amherst has reached a meaningful turning point — from planning and funding to deployment and public celebration.

Read More: Amherst Schools Mark Electric Bus Milestone (Daily Hampshire Gazette)