Michael Bangert-Drowns
New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) | Senior Project Manager
Speaker
Track C- Decarbonization and Electrification Strategies
Session C2: Recharging the Future: Innovations in EVs and Energy Storage Solutions
June 26, 2025 | 10:00 am - 10:30 am
Opportunities and Issues with School Bus Fleet Electrification
Through NYSERDA’s Clean Green Schools Initiative, ANTARES analyzed the potential of converting the existing pupil transport fleets for seven school districts in New York to zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs). The analyses included both a fleet assessment and an infrastructure assessment for these districts. The fleet assessments with ZEVs include estimating the daily, monthly and annual energy requirements for the existing bus routes for normal morning and afternoon routes along with additional extracurricular activity routes. The infrastructure assessments include the costs and impacts for installing new ZEV charging stations. The results of these analyses will be presented including the commonalities between them and the potential issues for these districts starting in 2027, which is the year when ZEVs are the NYS Governor’s mandate for school districts in NY. The economic and environmental comparisons between both the status quo and the zero emissions vehicles will be presented.
Speaker Bio
Michael Bangert-Drowns is a Senior Project Manager on the Clean Transportation team at NYSERDA. Michael is leading NYSERDA's technical assistance program for school districts as they work to meet New York State's ambitious goals of transitioning to zero-emission school buses. Michael holds a masters degree in civil engineering with a focus on transportation, and is also a certified Urban Greenhouse Gas Inventory Specialist and has worked in both the public and private sectors to advance clean transportation development across the country.