Ten-passenger electric vehicles operated by employee-drivers without need for a CDL offer an affordable solution for K-12 schools to reduce the length of bus routes while offering a cleaner, quieter ride for students.

The Problem: Driver Shortage and Longer Routes

Half of all K-12 students across the United States rely on transportation provided by their schools to get them to class in the morning and home again in the afternoon.

But a continuing shortage of professional school bus drivers has forced schools to cut some routes and lengthen the remaining routes — leading to longer travel times and crowded buses while increasing the risk of delays. Longer rides are especially hard on students with disabilities, who may have to travel farther for special education programs.

Kids and parents complain and schools search for solutions, but there just aren’t enough drivers to go around. There were 192,400 bus drivers working in K–12 schools in September 2023, down 15.1% from September 2019, according to the Economic Policy Foundation. And while the worst health threats of the pandemic have abated, the outlook for recruiting new drivers remains challenging due to issues of pay and working conditions for the traditional school bus driver demographic of older workers.

In the meantime, the bus drivers who remain on the job, many with decades of experience, are facing more challenging working conditions, pushing some drivers into early retirement — and making the driver shortage even worse.

A Solution: Volunteer Drivers & Shorter Commutes

As schools seek to hire more professional drivers for yellow buses, school transportation programs need a fast and flexible solution to take the pressure off their valuable professional drivers and give students and parents immediate relief with shorter rides to and from campus.

That’s the goal of Secure Solar Futures Solar School E-Vanpool Program: to quickly reduce long routes without having to wait to hire more professional drivers. We do this by adding smaller vehicles that don’t require a Commercial Drivers License and can be driven by staff who already commute to school and are outside the limited pool of bus drivers.

And by offering the vehicles through a lease, we eliminate any upfront capital cost, making it affordable to add e-vans to a school’s fleet. Finally, by using electric vehicles, students receive the benefit of a ride that’s both quieter and cleaner, improving students’ behavior while passengers and providing cleaner indoor air to promote good health.

Schools that start a Solar School E-Vanpool Program will make drivers, students, and parents happy.

Here’s how it works:

• We provide a school with 10-passenger electric vans that are approved at the federal and state levels for use in student transportation by a driver without need to have a Commercial Drivers License
• School transportation programs receive the vehicles under a five-year lease at a cost lower than operating comparable gasoline vans
• We help schools recruit drivers from among their staff members who are incentivized to serve as volunteer vanpool drivers by a free commute, an annual stipend, and installation of an electric vehicle charger at their residence

If you’d like to know more and see if your school might be a good candidate for our Solar School E-Vanpool Program, contact us today for a free consultation.

Sample Projects

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  Augusta County Schools Solar E-VanPool Pilot

  Faster, Cleaner Rides to School

  In October 2024, Augusta County Public Schools began a pilot program to reduce the length of their longest rural school bus routes.

  Read More