Environmental Benefits

Fact: You can Go Green by Riding Yellow

Some 480,000 school buses carry 25 million children — more than half of America’s schoolchildren — each day, making the school bus industry the largest form of mass transit in the United States. Taking cars off the road, reducing carbon emissions, and making the world a better place to live are everyday results for The Yellow School Bus.

It may come as news to some, but every school bus on the road eliminates approximately 36 cars. For every bus you keep on the road, that’s 36 fewer cars clogging the morning commute and 36 fewer cars polluting the atmosphere. In 2010, school buses saved the United States 2.3 billion gallons of gasoline, representing $6 billion in savings at 2010 fuel prices.

Simply put, school bus transportation makes our students and communities cleaner and healthier. As our country searches for ways to make our environment and our children healthier, Riding Yellow is an easy way to Go Green, helping us to create a better future for everyone.

 

ASBC estimates the number of school buses in the U.S. to be 480,000
Average miles traveled per year per bus 12,000
Total mileage for all buses 5,760,000,000
School buses transport 26 million of the 50 million students who attend school each day (ASBC estimate) 26,000,000
The number of students transported by each school bus 54
Average number of students transported per car if a school bus is not available (ASBC estimate) 1.5
The number of cars needed to transport students currently riding on one school bus 36
The number of cars needed to transport students currently riding on all school buses in the U.S. 17,333,333
Average fuel consumption (mpg) for school buses (ASBC estimate, assuming large capacity buses, diesel engines) 7
Average fuel consumption (mpg) for private vehicles (gasoline engines). (see http://www.epa.gov/oms/fetrends.htm) 20.8
Average fuel use per school bus per year (gallons) 1,714
Total fuel used by all school buses per year (gallons) 822,857,143
Cost of diesel fuel per gallon (Source: Energy Information Administration, September 5, 2011) $3.870
Cost of gasoline per gallon (Source: Energy Information Administration, September 5, 2011) $3.640
Cost of diesel fuel per bus per year $6,634
Total cost of diesel fuel for all buses per year $3,184,457,143
Annual cost of fuel per child transported by school bus $122
Average distance from home to school for bus riders (ASBC estimate, miles) 5
Assuming 2 round trips per day for parents to transport students in private vehicle, distance per day per student 20
Length of average school year (days) 180
Average annual mileage to transport students from home to school and back in private vehicle 3,600
Cost of fuel for transporting one private vehicle making two round trips to school $630
Total daily car mileage saved by students riding school buses 346,666,660
Total annual car mileage saved by students riding school buses 62,399,998,800
Total annual car fuel savings by students riding school buses (gallons) 3,000,000,000
Total annual car fuel COST savings by students riding school buses $10,920,000,000
Net community savings in fuel by students riding school buses (car gallons saved less bus gallons used) 2,177,142,857
Net community savings in fuel cost per year by students riding school buses (Car savings less bus Cost) $7,735,542,857