TRANSPORTATION SECTION
A greener way of getting to school Burnaby North Secondary student helps school win Canada’s first plug-in hybrid bus BY SHAYNA WIWIERSKI
A school bus is one of the safest methods of transportation for students to get to school.
And now, because of a new,
plug-in hybrid bus, it’s making the environment safer, too. Western Canada IC Bus, the only bus manufacturer in North America that makes plug-in hybrid school buses, recently ran a nationwide contest looking for “Canada’s Greenest School.” The big prize, among other things, was a hybrid school bus for the contest winner’s school. “The contest drew attention to plug-in school buses as a green alternative for environmentally-minded schools. There are advantages that school buses have over other transportation modes to get to school,” says Keith Kladder, marketing manager for IC Bus. To enter the contest, which ended in May 2010, students had to submit an essay explaining why and how their school could become the most environmentally friendly school in Canada. Ten finalists were chosen, and then the general public voted online for their favourite essays. Jennifer Hao, from Burnaby North Secondary in School District no. 41, beat out around 250 other submissions and won the grand prize – a plug-in hybrid bus for her school – as well as a $3,000 scholarship toward her education and $500 towards eco-friendly school supplies for her classroom.
16 Ops Talk • Fall 2010
Her submission, titled Burnaby North: Youth in Action, talked about a “Green Rides Campaign” and other ways that the school could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. “Very few students walk or bike to school, due to the number of cars blocking the main road to our buildings,” Hao states in her winning submission. “Daily traffic jams from 8:35-8:50 a.m. and 3:003:15 p.m. make it difficult for vehicles to enter and exit our school’s traffic zone. “We have reached a conclusion that using hybrid school buses is the most effective solution for reducing pollution… Gradually we would have hybrid school buses replace our regular school buses and taxis for activities and fieldtrips. The money our school would save from the eco-transportation system would be dedicated towards green projects or expanding our bus program,” she said. Burnaby North has not yet received the bus, which is currently being built, as the school and the district are still trying to figure out a way to properly utilize the bus. “Technically, it was awarded to Burnaby North, but individual high schools do not own anything in the district so we haven’t found out how we will utilize it together,” says David Mushens, vice-principal at Burnaby North Secondary School. “Things come up, like maintenance and insurance, and if we spread
these expenses across the school district, it makes it less expensive to deal with.” The bus, and the contest, has brought the topic of being greener into the school’s agenda, for students and school officials alike. “It’s kind of refocused our energies on environmental issues, which have become a broader topic of conversation. We have always had paper issues, but it’s become a topic between student and staff, and brought forward a much greater awareness,” Mushens says. “The district has also taken a significant interest, looking at our schools and what we can do differently. And it’s now on our radar for student involvement in planning events, and what the environmental impact will be, whereas matters like this weren’t there before.” The contest helped Hao and her school to become more environmentally friendly, and also familiarized people about these relatively new, plug-in hybrid school buses. The first model, delivered to the market in February 2007, looks exactly like your classic school bus. The real difference is realized in the fuel economy; an average school bus typically uses over 6,400 litres of fuel annually, whereas the hybrid version uses around 2,200 litres. The hybrid can also improve fuel economy by up to 65 per cent and reduce emissions by about 40 per cent. So how does it work? Well, like the name, you simply plug it in to a 220-volt
