GREEN BAY (NBC26) — Looking at a packed lot filled with school buses at Lamers Bus Lines, one might think all the buses are the same. However, for school districts across Northeast Wisconsin, there is starting to be a big difference.
Jim Gilson is a retired bus driver who works part-time at Lamers. Whether it's behind the wheel or prepping the buses for other drivers, he says every day brings something new.
"It's never the same every day. Like in a factory, you know you're looking at the stuff going around on the conveyer belt," Gilson said. "It's never the same. The weather's going to be different, the kids are gonna be different, it never gets old."
Something else that's different are the yellow buses becoming more green. Not by color, but by reducing harmful diesel emissions.
Since 2014, Lamers Bus Lines has implemented propane engines into its buses.
Propane serves as a safer option for air quality and vulnerable groups such as children, especially at the elementary stage.
The company now can replace seven more engines after being one of six companies winning a combined $375,000 grant through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
The award is designed to make bus engines cleaner and air quality safer.
In order to tell the difference between propane and diesel engined buses, Erica Dakins, marketing coordinator for Lamers Bus Lines, says a sticker is placed on the side of each bus that is running off of propane.
For air quality as a whole, Wisconsin sits at No. 36 nationwide, according to the DNR.
