IC Bus has been moving children from home to school and back again for nearly one hundred years. This site is designed to help parents, teachers and students learn and share valuable information and resources that connect us all.
Check out the tabs below and stay tuned, as we'll make regular updates with information on how you can make your school – and your community – green.
To promote the long-term green benefits of school bus ridership, IC Bus brought you the America's Greenest SchoolSM Contest where the winning school received an IC BusTM plug-in hybrid school bus!
The 2010 contest challenged students to demonstrate how they would make their school experience the greenest in the country. Ten finalists were selected and America voted for their choice to become America's Greenest School.
Ms. Robert's 3rd and 4th grade classes at South Shore Charter Public School won the 2010 America's Greenest School contest, winning their school a plug-in hybrid school bus and a green makeover as well as scholarships and green classroom supplies for themselves.
Here's their winning entry!
Sixteen-year-old Jennifer Hao and Burnaby North Secondary School won the votes of Canadians and the title of the first-ever "Canada's Greenest SchoolSM." Jennifer's contest entry, titled "Burnaby North: Youth in Action," centered around future generation leaders having the ability to inspire their school and other schools in taking green initiatives.
As part of Jennifer's award her school won a new plug-in hybrid school bus from IC Bus and an audit of her school by LEED Accredited Professionals of Morrison Hershfield.
Click here to view her winning entry!
To promote the long-term green benefits of school bus ridership, IC Bus brought you the America's Greenest SchoolSM Contest where the winning school received an IC BusTM plug-in hybrid school bus!
The 2010 contest challenged students to demonstrate how they would make their school experience the greenest in the country. Ten finalists were selected and America voted for their choice to become America's Greenest School.
Ms. Robert's 3rd and 4th grade classes at South Shore Charter Public School won the 2010 America's Greenest School contest, winning their school a plug-in hybrid school bus and a green makeover as well as scholarships and green classroom supplies for themselves.
Here's their winning entry!
Sixteen-year-old Jennifer Hao and Burnaby North Secondary School won the votes of Canadians and the title of the first-ever "Canada's Greenest SchoolSM." Jennifer's contest entry, titled "Burnaby North: Youth in Action," centered around future generation leaders having the ability to inspire their school and other schools in taking green initiatives.
As part of Jennifer's award her school won a new plug-in hybrid school bus from IC Bus and an audit of her school by LEED Accredited Professionals of Morrison Hershfield.
Click here to view her winning entry!
Riding a School Bus Saves Green
Parents who put their child on the school bus will not only add green to their wallet, they'll also help the environment by taking their own car off the road.
- According to the American School Bus Council (ASBC) one school bus full of kids is equal to taking 36 cars off the road.
- Students riding school buses save 3.1 billion gallons of fuel that would be used in passenger cars every year.
- If 10% more children in the U.S. rode school buses, another 300 million gallons of fuel could be saved annually.
- With their children riding a school bus one family can save an average $663 in fuel costs and 3,600 miles annually. From kindergarten to twelfth grade, that is 46,800 miles and $8,619.
IC Bus Plug-In Hybrid Electric School Buses Are The Greenest Of Them All
- The IC Bus Plug-In Hybrid Electric School Bus achieves up to a 40% reduction in greenhouse gases and up to a 65% improvement in fuel economy over other buses.
- The average school bus uses 1,714 gallons of fuel annually, but the average Plug-In Hybrid Electric School Bus uses only 600 gallons.
- It takes only four years for a conventional bus to use the same amount of diesel fuel that a Plug-In Hybrid Electric School Bus uses over its estimated 12-year lifetime.
- If only 10% of the buses in the U.S. were Plug-In Hybrid Electric School Buses, over $200 million in diesel fuel costs would be saved annually.
Because today's school children spend nearly half of their waking hours at school, a school becomes a child's second home. This is a great opportunity to improve a school's environmental impact and to protect your child's health and the communities in which you live.
Parents and students can be a force for green change in their schools. Here are some practical tips:
For Students:
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Turn Off The Lights – When the classroom is empty, make sure lights are turned off and computers are in standby mode.
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Bring Nature Indoors – Ask the teacher if the class can have a "class plant" that students can take turns watering.
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Be Proud To Ride The School Bus – Help the environment and clean up your air by using mass transit. This keeps additional cars off the road to help avoid traffic jams, save gas, and cut down on greenhouse gases.
For Parents:
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Choose Environmentally Friendly Transportation – Use the school bus rather than drive your child to school. One school bus can take 36 cars off of the road, eliminating the need for additional gas use, traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.
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Reduce Waste – Pack your child's lunch in reusable containers. This is more environmentally friendly than using a disposable paper bag and plastic baggies each school day.
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Speak Up – At a school district meeting, encourage more schoolyard asphalt to be replaced with grass, plants, and trees or get the district to invest in a hybrid school bus.
IC Bus continues to be the leader as the only school bus manufacturer to offer hybrid technology today. This technology is also becoming rapidly embraced in commercial bus markets.
Find Green for Your Hybrid
Parents can work with their school boards and school district transportation directors to make their next bus purchase an IC Bus Plug-In Hybrid Electric School Bus. School districts around the country have found new ways to get funding assistance for their hybrid school bus purchases.
- Various states have subsidy programs for alternative-fuel vehicles. Some of these programs pay for nearly 100% of the cost of the bus. At a minimum, these programs can significantly decrease the cost to less than that of a conventional bus.
- Federal programs such as the Clean School Bus program and the hybrid tax credit also provide funding assistance.
- While more legwork is needed, many school districts have found local interested companies and organizations to help fund their hybrid purchases. These might include companies that are interested in offsetting their carbon footprint and are without other outlets to do so.
- Companies like local power companies, state-level EPAs and others may also be interested in subsidizing the cost of a Plug-In Hybrid Electric School Bus in return for green publicity.
- Your state's environmental department is a great place to uncover companies interested in helping the local environment by funding the purchase of a Plug-In Hybrid Electric School Bus.
According to The U.S. Department of Transportation, school buses are the safest form of transportation for getting children to and from school. We're going to make sure that they stay that way. "Be Cool. Bus Rules!" is a comprehensive program developed to help school officials, parents, drivers and students learn about bus safety in a fun way.
We're proud to offer the following tools to help communicate the message of bus safety.
Coloring Book: A fun and engaging way to learn the ten "Be Cool Bus Rules!"
Bus ID Tag: This nametag includes the ten "Be Cool. Bus Rules!" safety rules on one side and a place for your child's name and bus number on the other side
Post Card: Special safety tips for parents on a postcard-sized mailer that your school can mail with a customized message.
Magnetic Card: A magnet with the ten "Be Cool. Bus Rules!" safety rules for the refrigerator at home or a student's locker at school.
Check out these exciting games and learn more about IC Bus. Choose to play one of the games below by clicking PLAY THIS GAME. All games require Flash Player 7, which you can download here.
