Marco D’Angelo, president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Transit Association, says the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) is helping to accelerate the electrification of city bus fleets by encouraging large orders rather than each municipality buying a few at a time on a pilot basis.
“It’s really been the leadership role that the CIB has taken as a catalyst in, I think, clearing many of the financial and operational obstacles that existed for local transit agencies to decide that they wanted to take the leap from conventional diesel or natural gas,” he said.
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek says adopting more efficient and sustainable public transportation is just one of the ways municipalities are reducing carbon emissions to address climate change.
She says Alberta’s largest city is getting “a great return on investment” from its order for 259 ZEBs by investing $100 million along with receiving $165 million in CIB loans and millions in government grants.
“Our partnership with the Canada Infrastructure Bank has been critical to make sure that we can acquire a zero-emission fleet much quicker than we would have done on our own.”
CIB Chief Executive Officer Ehren Cory said the Crown corporation is a key investment partner to significantly increase access to sustainable public transit and the Government of Canada’s goal of 5,000 ZEBs.
“Electric buses are one of the easiest ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector that accounts for 25 per cent of carbon output in Canada,” he said.
The CIB is helping to accelerate the reduction of carbon emissions from transit fleets by covering the higher upfront capital costs of zero-emission vehicles compared with diesel buses. It has committed more than $1 billion so far to help transit agencies in Brampton, Edmonton, Ottawa, Durham Region and Calgary, and nearly $500 million towards school bus operators in Quebec and B.C. to modernize their fleets.
Lion Electric Company, one of several Canadian manufacturers of these vehicles, says its order books have never been fuller amid growth fuelled in part by jurisdictions joining the global push to reduce greenhouse gas emission targets.
“Well, it is a good time. I mean, obviously, there’s a big hype about going electric, especially in the school bus transportation world because it makes sense,” says Patrick Gervais, the Quebec company’s vice-president of marketing and communications.
Winnipeg-based bus manufacturer New Flyer (NFI) said it is enjoying record bidding activity with unprecedented government funding in Canada and the United States.
“Our sales, bid, engineering, and operations teams have all been extremely busy in 2022. We’ve received new orders (firm and options to backlog) for more than 3,800 units and delivered the highest number of quarterly bids ever in the third quarter of 2022,” said Stephen King, vice-president, strategy and investor relations.
NFI (or New Flyer) anticipates this strong growth will continue as transition to electric accelerates.
“But the transition still takes time. It’s an evolution, not a revolution,” he said.