Grand Rapids — Work is underway at Dean Transportation’s Union Street bus station to prepare the site to house some brand-new electric buses, slated to come to Grand Rapids Public Schools sometime in the fall.
In fact, EV buses are being added to the fleets at Kent ISD and Kentwood as well, thanks to millions of dollars in rebates announced last summer as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program. Federal funding is being supplemented by additional dollars from the Michigan Department of Education.
Dean, which provides transportation services to both GRPS and Kent ISD, recently started installing the necessary electrical infrastructure to accommodate the EV charging stations, said Christopher Dean, the company’s director of innovation.
“The actual chargers themselves won’t be installed until later this fall,” Dean said. “When the chargers are available and ready to be installed, they’ll basically just be ready to set them down, connect them to the electricity and bolt them in place.”
The Kent ISD site, on 44th Street, is a bit further along, but all the infrastructure work at both sites should be completed before summer’s end.
“We’re on target to have chargers available and ready prior to the first bus arriving,” Dean said.
Purchase orders have been placed for the 15 GRPS buses and 10 Kent ISD buses, and the hope is that they’ll arrive sometime in late fall or early winter.
Dean said the work was delayed a bit due to a pause in federal grants.
Dean Transportation applied for federal funding on behalf of GRPS and Kent ISD. The $5.2 million for the GRPS project has been transferred over, while the $3 million for the Kent ISD project has not yet been released, but Dean said he believes it’s only a matter of time before those funds are in hand.