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San Francisco Unified School District to deploy e-bus fleet
Buses will be supported by Zum’s charging infrastructure with built-in V2G capabilities, making this bidirectional e-bus school fleet the largest in the US.
At a glance
Who: Zum; San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD).
What: Student mobility specialist Zum and SFUSD are deploying what claims to be the largest electric school bus deployment in the US.
Why: To improve the mobility experience for students, families, and drivers while strengthening grid reliability and resiliency for the entire community.
When: 104 electric school buses will be deployed in August 2026.
Student mobility specialist Zum and San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) are deploying what claims to be the largest electric school bus deployment in the US.
Powered by Zum’s Connected Mobility Experience (CMX) solution, the deployment will combine electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, routing intelligence, real-time operations, and transparency for families into its single integrated transportation system.
Vehicle-to-grid capabilities
All electric buses will be supported by a modern charging infrastructure with built-in bidirectional vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities, making this bidirectional electric school bus fleet the largest in the US.
Zum celebrated Phase One of the electrification effort at a groundbreaking event attended by local and state leaders.
“This investment reflects our commitment to improving the daily experience for students and families by providing safer, quieter, cleaner, and more reliable transportation to and from school, while also advancing the district’s long-term operational and sustainability goals”
“Today marks a major achievement in Zum’s national electrification efforts as well as an exciting evolution of our successful partnership with San Francisco Unified School District,” said Ritu Narayan, CEO of Zum. “This state-of-the-art electric fleet, combined with Zum’s CMX technology, will improve the mobility experience for students, families, and drivers while strengthening grid reliability and resiliency for the entire community. We are building connected mobility infrastructure that benefits both schools and cities.”
In August of 2026, Zum will deploy 104 electric school buses with bidirectional charging infrastructure in San Francisco. These buses will provide quiet, zero-emission transportation to students and will have the capability to return approximately three gigawatt-hours of clean energy to the local grid annually during peak hours, providing power to 1.2 million homes for up to three to four hours. Plans include adding additional electric buses to complete the 2027-2028 school year to make a total of 238 electric vehicles (EVs) with bidirectional charging in San Francisco.
This project has been made possible through the strong support of EPA Region 9, the California Energy Commission, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and PG&E through a combination of grants and incentive programmes focused on advancing clean transportation, electrification, and grid resilience infrastructure.
“This investment reflects our commitment to improving the daily experience for students and families by providing safer, quieter, cleaner, and more reliable transportation to and from school, while also advancing the district’s long-term operational and sustainability goals,” said San Francisco Unified School District superintendent Dr Maria Su. “Through the partnership between SFUSD, Zum, our Board of Education, the City of San Francisco, transportation staff, and families, we are building a transportation system designed to better serve students today and support future generations.”
Zum’s electric fleet in San Francisco will strengthen grid resilience by enabling school bus batteries to return energy to the local grid at scale when not in use. This V2G capacity transforms what has traditionally been an underutilised transportation asset into a strategic distributed energy resource – improving reliability, maximising the value of district infrastructure, and supporting long-term sustainability goals.
Adopted in 17 states across more than 4,500 schools, Zum partners with major districts including Omaha Public Schools, Boston Public Schools, Kansas City Public Schools, Los Angeles Unified, and Seattle Public Schools.
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How will bidirectional V2G charging schedule energy exports during peak demand?What metrics will measure student transport reliability and punctuality improvements?How much operational cost savings are expected from replacing diesel buses?What grid infrastructure upgrades are needed for supporting 238 V2G buses?How will Zum's CMX platform optimize routing and charging in real-time?Latest City Profile
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