B.C. Transit now has a demonstration electric bus for training before 10 new electric heavy-duty buses for the region arrive next year.
The buses are expected to be delivered in stages starting next summer.
Proterra Operating Company, which has a $20-million contract to provide B.C. Transit with the electric buses, provided the demonstration vehicle, which will be returned to the California company.
B.C. Transit says the demonstration bus will be on the road over the next few months as drivers get accustomed to it.
Charging infrastructure for the buses will be installed in the Victoria Transit Centre yard.
B.C. Transit is also gathering information on the technology, cost, noise level, performance and life span of electric double-decker buses, as it considers adding them to its fleet.
Five hundred heavy-duty buses could be replaced with electric vehicles over the next 10 years, the transit company says. It says it hopes to have an entirely electric fleet by 2040.
B.C. Transit’s existing fleet, which serves Greater Victoria and 83 community transit systems, includes 78 double-decker buses running on diesel fuel and 548 heavy-duty buses running on diesel and compressed natural gas.
B.C. Transit has 195 medium-duty buses operating with diesel and compressed natural gas, and 341 light-duty buses using diesel and gasoline.
The provincial and federal governments share the cost of B.C. Transit’s Low-Carbon Fleet Program.
