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Lincoln High School Clean Mobility in Schools Pilot

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Clean Mobility in Schools Pilot Project

San Diego Unified School District | Lincoln High School Clean Mobility in Schools Pilot Project

San Diego Unified School District logo    

May 2020 - March 2024

Project Details

The Lincoln High School Clean Mobility in Schools Pilot Project (Pilot) takes place in the San Diego Unified School District. The Pilot creates transformative emissions reduction strategies for school transportation options and improves air quality. The Pilot benefits the entire Lincoln Cluster of schools that includes the high school and its 13 surrounding elementary and middle schools.  The goal is to increase the visibility of and access to zero-emission transportation options by placing commercially available zero-emission technologies and supporting charging infrastructure in the school. The project includes battery electric food delivery vehicles; a variety of zero-emission landscape and custodial equipment; zero-emission carshare vehicles; battery electric school buses with managed charging stations; a robust public education effort to support behavior changes for students, parents, and staff; electric bicycle sharing projects for senior students and teachers; and a replicable template for other districts to use for implementing similar projects.

Highlights

  • Piloting an electric bicycle lending library and education program at the high school.
  • Piloting battery electric food service and delivery trucks to expand district services.
  • Active transportation education programs specific to grade levels.
  • Battery energy storage projects at 2 school sites will reduce energy costs and support zero-emission battery electric vehicles and equipment.
  • Data collection and analysis is focused on vehicle performance, usage, and user surveys on both baseline vehicles and their new zero-emission countertypes purchased through the grant.

Lessons Learned

  • Location for infrastructure and battery energy storage projects should be flexible to accommodate site assessments and usage data. Alternative approaches and locations may be a better fit and reduce more greenhouse gases or vehicle miles travelled than initial recommendations.
  • Bicycle safety information should be flexible to accommodate various grade levels. Mentorships creates good stewardship of school equipment when offered at no cost.

Funding Details

  • Grant Amount: $9,775,349   
  • Resource Contributions: $176,600
  • Project Total: $9,951,549 

By the Numbers

Services, Vehicles & Equipment Funded

  • 13 Battery electric school buses 
  • 13 Level 2 chargers 
  • 3 Level 3 (fast) chargers 
  • 2 Zero-emission vehicles for school faculty carsharing and vanpooling 
  • 2 E-bike-share programs for high school staff and students
  • 30 E-bikes
  • 1 Electric food delivery truck for the student food delivery program
  • 1 Electric community event RV for safety officers to provide safety programs 
  • 1 ENGIE battery-based energy storage system

Estimated Quantifiable Benefits

  • GHG emission reductions: 45,383 MTCO2e
  • Diesel PM reductions: 60 lbs
  • NOx reductions: 104,155 lbs
  • PM2.5 reductions: 2,313 lbs
  • ROG reductions: 1,667 lbs
  • Travel cost savings: $465,720
  • Fossil fuel-based transportation fuel use reductions: 478,772 gallons 
  • Direct jobs: 30
  • Indirect jobs: 13
  • Induced jobs: 21

Side view of electric school bus Rear view of electric school bus 

Side view of electric school bus Closeup of CCI logo on electric bus 

Community Details

The San Diego Unified School District’s Lincoln High School is located within a disadvantaged community near the Port of San Diego, an area with San Diego County’s worst air quality. The minority student population is 99%, 76% higher than the state average.

Demographics of Community Served by Project 

53% Hispanic or Latino, 22% White, 11% Asian, 9% Black or African American, and 5% Other
Median Household Income: $42,449  

Community Benefits

The Lincoln High School Clean Mobility in Schools Pilot Project will increase the visibility of and access to zero-emission transportation. It replaces diesel school buses with zero-emission buses, as well as gasoline vehicles and equipment with zero-emission options. The Pilot is not only transformational in reducing emissions and galvanizing a community, but it will increase student attendance by providing exciting new programs focused on innovation. It will also benefit Lincoln High School’s feeder elementary and middle schools, located within this disadvantaged community. 

Outreach & Engagement Strategies

  • Culturally appropriate education materials 
  • Materials in English and Spanish
  • Web-based materials 
  • Social media
  • Public meetings
  • Surveys
  • Zero-emission vehicle workforce training to high school and college students
  • Community workshops
  • Community event attendance

Target Populations

  • Students in grades K-12
  • Parents 
  • District staff 
  • Community members
  • Low-income
  • English learners
  • Non-English speakers

Partnership Structure

Grantee

San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) is a K-12 school district. It is the second largest school district in California with an enrollment of 117,000 students. Project implementation through the SDUSD will provide a format to introduce equity and climate goals in other high schools throughout California.

Project Partners

Contacts

Gene Robinson | SDUSD