JMU expands Gus Bus fleet, looks to expand into neighboring counties

James Madison University is adding an electric-powered Gus Bus to its education enrichment fleet, bringing its total to three vehicles.

The Gus Bus allows JMU to foster a love for learning with children in grades Pre-K up to 5th grade in Harrisonburg. The mobile classroom visits neighborhoods, after-school programs and summer day camps.

If they can secure funding, Gagliardi hopes to add neighborhood stops in Rockingham, Page and Shenandoah counties by next spring.

The electric bus is being provided through a collaboration with the Gus Bus and Virginia Clean Cities.

Virginia Clean Cities is a U.S. Department of Energy designated coalition in the Clean Cities and Communities partnership that advances air quality improvement, economic opportunity and energy security through deployment of alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure, education programs and other petroleum reduction activities.

The Gus Bus is a program of the JMU Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services within the College of Health and Behavioral Studies. The new electric Gus Bus was made possible by the Mid-Atlantic Electrification Partnership project. 

JMU has offered programming with two buses since 2005.

“We have been really limited in capacity with just our two vehicles,” said Rachel Gagliardi, program director for Gus Bus. “They are maxed out, with both of them going out every afternoon for several years.”