Metro Atlanta school district sees big savings at the pump with propane-fueled buses

With gas prices remaining high, propane school buses are helping the Henry County School District save taxpayer money.

Chris McLeod, Henry County School District's executive director of transportation services, said integrating propane-fueled school buses into the district's fleet has made a big difference to the district's bottom line.

"Well, we spend about $1.50 a gallon for propane, and we all know that diesel prices, gasoline prices are higher than normal, so it definitely has a large financial impact on our overall budget for our school system," McLeod said.

He said the district has been using propane buses since 2019. Current estimates show each propane bus saves the district around $80,000 over its 15-year-plus lifespan. Currently, 105 of the district's fleet of 326 buses are propane-fueled.

"Those dollars go back into the general fund and contribute to an overall better budgetary outlook for our district," McLeod said.

Henry County uses propane buses made by Blue Bird, one of the largest bus manufacturers in the United States.

Tim Gordon, the company's vice president of sales and marketing, said the propane buses have been well received throughout Georgia.

"Georgia's our biggest user of propane buses, though," Gordon said. "Most of those folks have realized a good return, and it's put money back into the systems that can pay teachers more. They can hire more people. They can pay their drivers better."

Gordon said the buses are highly technical with safety features in place.

"If something happened, the systems go through a line of shutdowns that shuts the fuel off to where it can't get to — if there's something under the hood, it gets hit in the front, and something breaks loose, it'll shut the fuel down where it can't fuel a fire or something of that nature," Gordon said.

Rousch CleanTech, an advanced clean transportation solutions company, has been working with Blue Bird on the propane buses since 2012.

Rousch CleanTech's vice president of sales and marketing, Todd Muow, said geopolitical conflicts and changing regulations are leading to increased demand for propane fuel from school districts.

"There's a greater education and recognition amongst decision makers in school districts that we have to find something else," Muow said. "We've got almost 1,200 districts across the country, and every province in Canada that are running propane every day. So it's a proven solution and proven story that provides the results districts need — reducing money, cleaner emissions and domestic fuel source."

McLeod said the Henry County School District plans to add additional propane buses to the district's fleet.