Bechtel has been selected by First Student, a provider of student transportation services in North America, to support its electrification efforts. Bechtel says it will immediately start designing and building charging stations for one of First Student’s electrification projects in the U.S. The two companies say they intend to partner on more electric vehicle deployments in the future, with Bechtel providing engineering, procurement, and construction services.

According to First Student, in addition to environmental benefits, electric school buses are more efficient and require less maintenance.

“First Student is leading the way in school bus electrification, and we look forward to working with Bechtel to drive more change,” said First Student Head of Electrification Kevin L. Matthews. “Thousands of our students are already benefiting from riding emissions-free school buses as part of our commitment to create a safer, cleaner, and quieter ride to school. First Student is on track to convert 30,000 of our buses to electric by 2035, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and positively impacting the health and well-being of the communities we serve.”

Bechtel provides a range of services in the electrification market, including feasibility studies, site selection, front-end engineering design, procurement services, construction management, and project management. Bechtel says its portfolio of sustainability projects includes electrifying transportation systems, expanding renewables, transitioning from coal to gas, improving energy efficiencies, decarbonizing existing infrastructure, deploying zero-emission nuclear energy, switching to zero-emission hydrogen fuel, and generating energy-storage solutions.