How San Diego Unified is weathering the bus fuel squeeze

A few of the reasons are:

💸 The district buys gas on the cheap from the county.

⛽ District fuel stations hold 60,000 gallons, so they can buy when prices are low and wait out spikes.

🚌 The district's fleet includes 43 electric buses, 23 other EVs and 315 diesel buses, with more EVs coming.

🎒 Only 4,651 of nearly 95,000 students use district transportation daily.

💰 The district has a roughly $1.5 million annual gas budget.

Zoom out: Nationally, the Iran war is sending diesel costs higher just as districts are grappling with a yearslong bus driver shortage.

• Districts are consolidating routes, cutting trips and squeezing more efficiency out of their fleets.
• A May survey of 188 school officials found 40% had adjusted routes, 27% enforced anti-idling rules, 25% cut routes, 20% limited optional trips, 14% changed fuel purchasing and 8% made students walk farther to stops.
• Those changes result in more parents driving students to school activities or districts moving pickup points farther from students' homes.