Misconception 5: Decarbonization is all about climate change.

Climate change is a critical societal issue, with fleet electrification a key element in combatting it. However, there is a risk that prioritizing climate change might take attention away from some of the broader benefits of fleet electrification, particularly at the local community level.

Diesel fleets — even those that comply with modern emissions standards — are a significant source of noise and airborne pollutants that affect health (such as diesel particulate matter and nitrogen oxides). Fleet decarbonization represents a significant opportunity to improve local air quality by eliminating these harmful pollutants.

The implementation of anti-idling rules in prior decades has resulted in improvements (I’m old enough to remember getting on the school bus that was half full of exhaust from the bus in front of it), but there’s only so much you can do when your vehicle is powered by fossil fuels.

In addition, the noise associated with heavy duty vehicles has been a historic nuisance for communities. Whether it’s a fleet of diesel buses pulling out of a bus garage at the wee hours of the morning or a garbage truck idling outside your window at 6:30 a.m. on a Tuesday (not that I’m bitter), the impacts on communities are real and could soon be a thing of the past.

The positive health effects and quality of life improvements of fleet decarbonization will be substantial and outsized in areas where vehicles are concentrated such as neighborhoods which are home to fleet depots, major travel corridors, and large hubs like transit stations.

Further benefits will be realized by the workforce who is interacting with these vehicles. Exposure to toxic chemicals will be significantly reduced through decarbonization. Diesel fuel, transmission fluid, engine oil… You name it, there will be less of it on a zero-emissions vehicle.

Safety will also improve as heavy vehicles get quieter. Check out this article from the Solid Waste Association of North America. In 2019,, refuse collectors had the 6th highest fatality rate according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Reducing vehicle noise will improve worker situational awareness, with resulting positive impacts on safety.

As future fleet maintenance facilities will not be housing dirty, noisy, smoke-spewing, toxic-chemical leaking vehicles, they will be much better candidates for integration within their community. A couple years back, I worked with A Better City and the Barr Foundation to explore the concept of incorporating an electric bus garage into a mixed-use development. In the right situation, this approach would allow fleet uses to blend into neighborhoods much more effectively than they do now, while providing fleet owners with the potential for much needed funding to support decarbonization. A true win-win.

So, as we move forward with fleet decarbonization, let’s be mindful of the full range of positive impacts it will have. Addressing climate change is a critical issue that will impact all of us. But to many communities, the most visible and critical impacts of decarbonization will be the zero-emissions vehicles that cleanly and quietly pick up their trash, take their kids to school, or get them to work in the morning and home at night.