New York City has finalized a new contract to operate its fleet of school buses, and an electric bus pilot project is part of the plan.

The five-year contract, which involves 41 companies, half a dozen municipal agencies, several labor unions, and a budget of $1.5 billion per year, will govern school bus operations in the city through the next mayoral administration.

The Big Apple contracts with a fleet of 10,000 school buses, which serves over 200,000 students and completes some 3.6 million bus trips per year.

The new contract involves several green measures—the bus companies will reduce the average age of their buses, will provide fully air-conditioned vehicles, and will implement improved practices and technological advances to streamline routes.

Some of the operators will pilot both electric school buses and vans, and the first are expected to be on the road for the start of the school year in September.

The first NYC school bus company to introduce an all-electric full-size school bus will be Logan Bus. The operator will collaborate with Amply Power to provide fully managed charging of five buses. The pilot project includes a V2G bidirectional EV charging system from Rhombus Energy Solutions. (Read our interview with Amply CEO Vic Shao in the upcoming issue of Charged.)

“Making the city’s school bus fleet greener will play an integral part in the fight against climate change, and will be a welcome addition for children and parents of the NYC schools,” said Corey Muirhead, Executive VP of Logan Bus.

Source: Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, Amply Power