Relative to the pending revote to purchase two electric buses and update the Bemus Bus Garage to enable its use for the same, I would offer the following. I believe that electric vehicles, including buses, could be one of the options for transporting students, but not a mandated option. What had been an initial increase in electric powered vehicles has largely stalled due to performance shortcomings, an inherent fire danger caused by the batteries, substantially higher initial cost for the busses, lack of long term data on electric bus reliability in cold climates, the possibility of having to upgrade local electric power transmission lines, and costly required bus facility remediations. Automobile dealerships have reported extended holding times for passenger vehicles on their lots for some of the same reasons and have had to resort to healthy rebates in an attempt to get rid of current inventories.

Bemus Point School District residents previously voted down a measure to purchase two electric buses. In an article titled “Public Hearing for Bemus Point Bus Vote is Monday in Wednesday’s Post Journal, school superintendent Joe Reyda is quoted as saying, “Since the last vote, we have been able to determine that it will cost $2.5 million to upgrade the bus garage to support electric vehicles.” I would like to think that a cost of that magnitude would have been part of the due diligence done by the administration and presented to district residents prior to the previous vote on this issue. Electric vehicles – especially large vehicles – are an evolving issue and that is one very good reason not to be the first dog in the hunt. Districts cannot have the expertise on these matters so they often rely on architects, other districts, federal and/or state program guidelines and perhaps the utility for their information. I would want answers to the following questions. What other districts have purchased these vehicles? Were they cold weather schools with long bus routes, and what was their experience? How did these vehicles stand up over time? Could the electric buses provide adequate heat for students during our winter months on long runs such as our district requires? I sincerely doubt there is adequate data to determine these points. Then there is perhaps the most crucial question. Americans have voted, and have moved certainly back to a middle of the road position on environmental issues, and our president appears to be seriously questioning positions on alternative power sources embraced by our past administration. Mr. Reyda alludes to the “possibility” that the mandates could be rescinded. What would happen to the financial incentives? I believe I heard today that the courts ruled that obligations that had already been encumbered and construction begun had to be honored, but I am no lawyer. Have our representatives or the EPA been contacted to determine that question?

I urge Bemus Point School District voters to attend the Monday, April 10, public hearing on the topic and the April 18 vote. The vote will be Tuesday, March 18, from 2:00 to 8:00 P. M. in the high school STEAM Room.

I believe our administration should be actively lobbying New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, our representatives, New York State Schools Association, and the President of the United States to rescind New York’s mandate to go all electric by the governor’s proclaimed deadline. Likewise, our district should be partnering with other districts to have a mutual aid emergency bus system and call for a halt in the requirement that the district have an available bus seat for each student. The cost for seeing 20 buses on their routes with only a handful of students riding them just got exponentially higher.

Fletcher E. Ward

Bemus Point