San Diego school district switches to Neste for bus fuel

A public school district in San Diego, California, has switched its fleet of 53 school buses to run on Finnish company Neste’s renewable diesel.

The Vista Unified School District (VUSD) is the fourth largest in San Diego County, comprising 32 schools with programmes ranging from kindergarten through to adult educational facilities. The district serves more than 23,000 primary to high school students and 2,000 adult education students.

“When considering our students’ health and safety, the local air quality, and the reduction in preventative maintenance costs, this was clearly a win-win solution,” said Bill Weisberg, director of transportation at VUSD, when explaining the decision to switch to Neste’s My Renewable Diesel.

“We should see less residue in our fuel filters and in the Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) filters. These filters constantly need attention when using standard CARB (petroleum) diesel. This will save our mechanics time and keep our buses on the road,” he said.

“We are very happy to see Vista Unified School District make the switch to Neste MY Renewable Diesel, and pleased to hear about the great results they have already experienced,” said Jeremy Baines, Vice President of Sales, Neste US.

“School-age children are some of the most susceptible to the effects of harmful emissions, so being able to directly improve the air quality for an entire school district gives us a great sense of accomplishment.”