School Buses Go Green in Cupertino

The bus is still yellow, but the ride to school is green.

Cupertino Union School District has four brand-new school buses that use clean diesel engines, bought via a grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

The new buses replace the district's oldest, dirtiest schoolkid-ferrying vehicles -- all were pushing 20 years of service, a school district spokesman said. The air quality management district gave the school district $650,000 to pay for the new 2013 models, which use a Cummins ISC engine.

The new buses are also safer: every seat is equipped with seat belts, which the passengers are expected to use. As if it couldn't get any better, the new buses also have a distinctive, "rock star" look -- the new buses' noses are sleeker, the newspaper said.

The old buses needed to be sent to a scrap heap as part of the deal to get the grant from the air quality management district. Sims Metal in San Jose is doing the crushing.

Cupertino now has 35 school buses. Only a select few drivers will be allowed to pilot the new buses, a spokesman said.