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Transportation
Transportation
Gasoline and diesel combustion releases into the atmosphere a significant amount of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. CO2 traps the heat from sunlight, resulting in the warmining of the planet.
4J has taken steps to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide it releases into the air, both by converting its bus fleet to clearer-burning fuel and encouraging students and families to get to and from school by foot, bike or other alternative means of transportation that doesn’t rely on gasoline.
🚌 Greener Bus Fleet
All 4J buses run on 99% renewable diesel (R99) and use modern exhaust systems. Our fleet includes high-efficiency diesel, propane, and gas vehicles. Learn more about our bus fleet in the news post below
🚶Safe Routes to School
Offered at every 4J school, Safe Routes to School (SRTS) promotes walking, biking and rolling to school safely — with support from the city of Eugene for road, sidewalk and pathway improvements as well as safety education. Contact: Sarah Mazze, 541-790-7539 or mazze_s@4j.lane.edu
💨 Idle-Free Zones
The district adopted a policy in 2023 directing drivers to turn off their engines instead of idling them during pick-ups and drop-offs to improve the air quality around our school buildings and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. Review the policy
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4J’s yellow school buses have gone 100% green.
For the past several years, Eugene School District 4J has been working to remove “dirty diesel” school buses as they reach the end of their lifespan and replace them with new models that are greener in both emissions and efficiency. Now, the district has finally reached its goal of 100% low-emission buses.
When 4J school buses hit the road this fall, the district’s last remaining 13 “dirty diesel” buses will have been replaced with new, clean diesel models that have much lower emissions and better fuel efficiency to “green the fleet.”
Previously, 4J’s 112 diesel-powered buses ran on biodiesel fuel blends. Over time, the district has upgraded from biodiesel fuel to R99 diesel, which is 99 percent renewable and much cleaner than regular diesel fuel, or to propane fuel, which requires less bus maintenance and offers near-zero emissions from the tailpipe. The district began utilizing propane in 2014 and R99 diesel in 2017.
Now, all 122 4J school buses are fueled by either R99 diesel or propane. Every bus is equipped with exhaust control technology and nearly all of the vehicles include controls for both nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emissions. The move brings the school district in compliance with the Oregon statutory requirement for clean diesel engines well ahead of the 2025 deadline.
The most recent sustainability efforts to green the fleet have been paid for in part by a state grant—the Department of Environmental Quality’s Diesel Bus Replacement grant program, which is supported by the VW Diesel Emissions settlement—but the district has been working to convert to cleaner engines for years.
Over the last 6 years, the district has invested about $6 million in voter-approved bond dollars to replace aging vehicles in the bus fleet with upgraded models. Another $4.8 million from the 2018 bond has been earmarked for new school buses, all of which will be clean diesel or propane-powered buses.
Busing students to and from school is an essential part of providing an education. More than 5,800 students, or about one-third of district students, are transported by 4J buses every school day. 4J buses and bus drivers put more than 1.5 million miles on the road each year—so greening the fleet really adds up.