The Rosa Parks School Bus Campaign
The Rosa Parks School Bus Campaign is a broad-based initiative to prevent the exposure of Northern Manhattan and Bronx children and school bus drivers to the multiple environmental harms and risks associated with the build up of diesel exhaust fumes inside school bus cabins. Studies show that diesel exhaust contains over 40 chemicals classified as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act, and that particulates released when diesel fuel is combusted are linked to respiratory illness. Studies also show that children are exposed to four times as much diesel exhaust inside a school bus than they would be if they were standing outside of that bus.
Initiated in 2006, the Campaign is ensuring that City and State laws – and implementation of these laws – are the most protective of vulnerable children and school bus drivers’ health. New York City Local Law 42 requires that diesel powered school buses are retrofitted with the best available retrofit technologies (BART) to lessen emissions, and lays out a series of tiers for compliance with the law. Through the Campaign, we are building local support for retrofitting NYC school buses with a combined package of crankcase and tailpipe emissions controls that together eliminate 90% of diesel exhaust.
WE ACT works with our local representatives and community groups statewide to achieve the goals of the Rosa Parks School Bus Campaign. One of our aims is the development and adoption of legislation that would extend the protections provided by New York City Local Law 42 to school children and bus drivers throughout New York State. To date, we have reached more than 1,000 community members in Northern Manhattan and the South Bronx – and secured campaign support from organizations including For A Better Bronx, the Toxic Waste Lupus Coalition, Asthma Free School Zone, the American Lung Association, Wellness in Schools and the NYC Asthma Partnership.
WE ACT is carrying out a demonstration project to retrofit two Northern Manhattan school buses with BART. WE ACT will compare the air quality within retrofitted school bus cabins with the air quality in non-retrofitted school bus cabins. We’ll share the findings at community workshops involving residents, school boards and policy makers to increase community knowledge and build community power. The findings will also bolster our policy initiative with current, local data.
Does your child ride a school bus to school or other activities?
If so you should be concerned about your child’s exposure to dangerous air pollution. Here’s why:
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Diesel exhaust gets trapped inside the bus - through open windows, the door and floorboards - filling the cabin with pollution right where children breathe.
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The air inside the bus cabin can be up to 5 times dirtier than the outside air. This outside air already fails federal health-based air quality standards.
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Fine particles from diesel exhaust get lodged deep in children's lungs and have been linked to asthma attacks, cancer, impaired lung development, chronic bronchitis and heart disease.
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Children with asthma are particularly sensitive to fine particles pollution and to the toxic fumes inside the school bus.
This can be fixed!
New York City Local Law 42 of 2005 requires all school buses to be equipped with the best pollution filters available. The cheapest filters (DOCs) only reduce pollution by 20%-24% and the best filters (DPFs) reduce pollution by over 85%. Therefore, DOCs do not live up to the spirit of Local Law 42, which is to protect children!
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Installing DPFs on the tailpipe of the bus traps 90% of pollution before it reaches your child.
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Installing a filter on the pipe from the engine of the bus (a crankcase filter) eliminates 100% of the pollution that gets trapped inside of the school bus cabin.
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A one-time investment of $8,000-$15,000 per bus for DPF filters will provide clean air on thousands of trips to and from school.
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We must convince the city and private schools to require DPF filters to protect our children, and not use DOC filters. Remember DOC filters will keep your child at the Doctor’s office.
Here’s what YOU can do to clean up your child's school bus:
- Talk to your school. If your child rides a school bus operated by a private company ask the head of the school/camp/pastor to be a leader and require that the company provide clean air school buses for your children.
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Talk to other NYC parents, encouraging them to take action. Tell your school's Parents Teachers Association (PTA) about the risks of riding dirty school buses.
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Call the New York City Department of Education's Office of Pupil Transportation at (718) 482-3810 and demand that they stop signing contracts with school bus companies that do not have DPFs and crankcase filters installed on their buses. Our kids and drivers deserve the best!
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Distribute this 1-page Fact Sheet (PDF) encouraging others to get informed and take action.
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Contact one of the numbers below to find out how to get more information.
For More Information . . .
For information about cleaning up school bus pollution and how to work with your school call:
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Anhthu Hoang, WE ACT at (212) 961-1000, ext. 311
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Marian Feinberg, For A Better Bronx (718) 292-4344
Other Sources Of Information . . .
State School Bus Retrofit and Replacement Programs: