Environmental equity in funding decisions of the clean air school bus program: The case of New York State

School bus self-pollution has been found to play a major role in children’s exposure to diesel exhaust fumes. This has led to national and state clean air school bus programs aimed at reducing children’s exposure by providing funds to school organizations for idle reduction, bus retrofit, cleaner fuels, and bus replacement. This study evaluates equity within the New York State clean air school bus program’s funding decisions. Equity in the funding process is examined using clustered binary logistic specifications at the individual school bus level. Economic variables of a school district were found to be significantly associated with the odds of its buses receiving funding from the program. The analysis shows that without the equity dimension considered in the funding decision, inequity could exist that higher income school districts have better odds of receiving funding.

Research highlights
► Assessment of the impacts of a major program to reduce diesel emissions on US school buses.
► Finds that the criteria for allocating funds under the New York State Clean Air School Bus Program omit important economic variables.
► Studies the impacts of retrofit kits to reduced pollution from school buses.