First Student Reports 13% NYC Charging-Construction Savings, Versus an Earlier ‘At Least 30%’ Project Claim

First Student says the trenchless charging installation in the first completed phase of its New York City electric-school-bus project reduced infrastructure construction costs by 13%.¹ That is materially different from the number First Student attached to the same project when it was announced in October 2024: the company said First Charge “reduces construction costs by at least 30%.”²

The two company-published figures are 17 percentage points apart. But they should not be read as proof that First Student missed a 30% target. The Sept. 15, 2026 release and the 2024 project announcement do not disclose enough common cost-baseline, scope or calculation methodology to establish that the percentages are directly like-for-like.¹²

That distinction is what makes the new result more useful than a simple announcement that more electric buses are coming to New York. First Student and Con Edison said Tuesday that the project's first phase is complete, with electric school buses operating across Brooklyn and Queens. First Student also said it plans to deploy 40 additional electric school buses serving the New York City Department of Education, without giving a deployment date or depot split.¹

The 13% figure is about construction, not total electrification cost

First Student attributes the 13% reduction to avoiding traditional underground trenching for its modular First Charge installation.¹ The claim is specifically about infrastructure construction costs. It does not establish a 13% reduction in the total cost of the buses, electricity, utility upgrades, the broader energy project or fleet ownership.¹

That narrower scope matters because First Student has used larger savings language around First Charge before. Its October 2024 announcement for this project said the system reduced construction costs by at least 30%, while an April 2025 product announcement described First Charge more generally as capable of reducing construction costs by up to 30%.²³

The current project result is therefore a useful real-world data point, but not enough information to calculate a defensible relative “underperformance” against either earlier statement. The public materials do not supply the underlying dollar totals, a shared comparison case or a common measurement method for the 2024 and 2026 percentages.¹²

“First phase complete” is narrower than the original smart-energy plan

The project's original scope went beyond charging hardware. Con Edison said in October 2024 that it was supporting the effort with a $9 million investment, that four of a planned 12 electric buses were then operating, and that the Malta Street depot was planned to include a 500-kW solar array and a 2-MW battery.⁴

Con Edison's 2025 Distributed System Implementation Plan describes the associated Cost Optimization for Fleet Electrification medium- and heavy-duty vehicle pilot as a 12-school-bus Brooklyn project integrating charging infrastructure, solar, energy storage and adaptive load management. Its published program schedule runs from January 2025 through June 2028.⁵

The Sept. 15 release does not say that the entire multi-year concept is complete. It calls the current milestone the completion of the first phase, mentions advanced bidirectional-charging technology and load-management software, and says First Student is considering additional Brooklyn initiatives including expanded solar use and creation of a smart energy hub.¹ The reviewed current release also does not establish that the buses are actively exporting power to the grid or quantify any V2G energy or revenue.¹

For fleet operators, the most concrete new evidence is simpler: First Student now has a project-specific number for the construction effect of its trenchless charging approach in a dense urban deployment. That number is 13%, while its 2024 project announcement used at least 30% construction-cost language.¹² Without a common cost methodology, the responsible comparison stops at documenting that 17-point difference and watching for the project data needed to explain it.¹²

Sources

Footnotes

1. First Student and Con Edison Advance Electric School Bus Infrastructure in New York City — First Student, Inc. via PR Newswire, Sept. 15, 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/first-student-and-con-edison-advance-electric-school-bus-infrastructure-in-new-york-city-302878816.html — Company-issued release establishing first-phase completion, the attributed 13% infrastructure-construction-cost reduction, Brooklyn/Queens operations, the 40-bus plan, bidirectional-charging wording and considered future smart-energy initiatives. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

2. Brooklyn to Receive a Charge From Electric School Bus Batteries With New Vehicle-To-Everything Smart Energy Hub Built By First Student And Con Edison — First Student, Inc., Oct. 22, 2024. https://firststudentinc.com/resources/newsroom/brooklyn-to-receive-a-charge-from-electric-school-bus-batteries-with-new-vehicle-to-everything-smart-energy-hub-built-by-first-student-and-con-edison/ — Historical project announcement establishing the original 12-bus/smart-energy framing and First Student's project-specific at least 30% construction-cost statement. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

3. First Student’s First Charge Solution Receives 2025 Edison Award — First Student, Inc., Apr. 4, 2025. https://firststudentinc.com/resources/newsroom/first-students-first-charge-solution-receives-2025-edison-award/ — Company product announcement establishing the broader up to 30% construction-cost marketing language. ↩

4. Con Edison Provides $9 Million to Jump-start First Student School Bus Electrification in Brooklyn — Con Edison, Oct. 22, 2024. https://www.coned.com/en/about-us/media-center/news/2024/10-22/con-edison-provides-9-million — Utility announcement establishing the $9 million support, four-of-12 historical operating state and planned 500-kW solar array and 2-MW battery. ↩

5. Distributed System Implementation Plan — Table 20, Cost Optimization for Fleet Electrification (COFE) MHDV Pilot — Con Edison, June 30, 2025. https://www.coned.com/-/media/files/coned/documents/our-energy-future/our-energy-vision/distribution-system-platform/distributed-system-implementation-plan.pdf — Utility implementation plan establishing the 12-school-bus pilot scope, charging/solar/storage/load-management integration and January 2025-June 2028 program schedule. ↩