The buses will be used on the 14, 15, 27 and 28 routes, with four more expected to be running in Victoria’s transit system by the fall.
A quieter and less-polluting ride could be in the cards for some commuters as B.C. Transit rolls out its first fleet of electric buses in the capital region starting Monday.
Keen eyes might have already spotted the buses on Victoria streets in the past two months as drivers took the distinctive green-and-white vehicles out on training routes.
Six of the eight electric buses currently in Victoria are expected to go into service on the 14, 15, 27 and 28 routes on Monday, said B.C. Transit spokesperson Tessa Humphries.
A total of 10 electric buses are expected to be running in Victoria’s transit system by the fall.
On Wednesday, elected officials boarded one of the new electric buses for a scenic loop through James Bay, including Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto, Victoria MP Will Greaves and George Anderson, B.C.’s Parliamentary Secretary for transit.
Greaves, who often bused to the University of Victoria where he taught classes before he was elected to parliament in April, said the electric bus interior was nearly identical to current B.C. Transit bus models.
But the smoothness and silence of the ride were a “nice contrast” to his old commute, he said.
Another upside of an electric bus is that the engines will cause less noise disruptions in the neighbourhoods that it travels through, he said.
Greaves, who now sits on a federal standing committee related to transport, said it’s important for governments to work together on improving public services.
Money for the new buses — 10 out of the 125 that B.C. Transit has ordered — came from a number of federal, provincial and municipal sources, including the Canada Infrastructure Program and the Zero Emission Transit Fund.
The cost of the buses has not been publicly revealed. B.C. Transit previously said the agency is not releasing the purchase prices so future procurements can remain competitive.
Government funding totalling $395.5 million for buses and infrastructure was announced in July 2023.
The 40-foot heavy-duty buses are coming from Nova Bus, a Quebec-based bus manufacturer, and New Flyer, a Winnipeg-based manufacturer, after B.C. Transit’s previous 10-bus $20-million contract with Proterra, a California-based bus manufacturer,fell through when Proterra went intobankruptcy.
The buses that will go into service next week were built by New Flyer and are a modified version of the company’s Xcelsior CHARGE NG model.
The provincial Crown corporation, which owns a fleet of 1,106 buses of varying types, is aiming to have a fully electric fleet by 2040.
B.C. Transit estimates that each electric bus will save about a tanker truck’s worth of diesel every year, the equivalent of 550 fill-ups for a mid-sized car.
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