Electric Bus Pilot Project
In February 2020, Calgary Transit signed a funding agreement with Emissions Reduction Alberta to work on introducing zero-emission battery electric buses to Calgary through a pilot project. The pilot aims to test electric bus technology and evaluate the operational, economic and environmental benefits of using electric buses in our system.
The pilot is part of The City’s Green Fleet initiative to evaluate and incorporate fully electric, electric hybrid, and other low carbon vehicle technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Project Timeline
Spring 2021
Award procurement contract for electric buses
Summer 2021 to Spring 2023
Identify appropriate routes, procure and install charging equipment, take delivery of electric buses
Fall 2023
Use on select routes, gather performance data
Project News
July 2022 – Electric bus pilot featured in video
Emissions Reduction Alberta created this video about our project. Calgary Transit’s Sharon Fleming and Saadiq Mohiuddin discuss the project’s purpose and how it supports The City’s push toward low-carbon vehicle technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
November 2021 – Engineering firm selected for charging infrastructure
We selected engineering firm Burns & McDonnell to supply, design and install electric bus charging station infrastructure for our pilot project. We’ll be installing a charging station inside our Springs Gardens garage in 2022. We chose this site for the charging station because it stores and dispatches our existing shuttle bus fleet, so it made sense to base our new electric shuttles in this location too. As well, the garage has capacity to accommodate our 14 electric buses.
The charging station will enable us to simultaneously charge our 14 buses with capacity to charge 28 buses in the future. The chargers will deliver fast charging and will need only about two hours to fully charge our buses. Special charge management system software will manage power to the chargers, so we don’t exceed the facility’s electrical capacity limits. We’ll train Calgary Transit staff to operate the chargers.
The charging station will use charging cabinets and dispensers supplied by ABB, a leading global technology company.
We expect to have final blueprints and drawings for our charging station build in spring 2022, with station completion and operations slated for spring 2023.
Our Spring Gardens garage (located at 928 32 Avenue N.W.), opened in 1975 and expanded in 2015, includes body, machine, and heavy-duty mechanical shops as well as an administration office.
June 2021 – Electric bus supplier chosen
We awarded Vicinity Motor Corp. the contract to supply us with 14 battery electric shuttle buses for our pilot project.
The purchased buses are shorter than our existing shuttles (28 feet versus 30 feet). The buses can carry up to 22 passengers and have a maximum range of about 200 km.
With procurement of electric buses complete, we’re now focused on preparing to take delivery of our new Vicinity Lightning EV buses in spring 2023.