Calgary shortchanged by federal funds for electric buses

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When it comes to recent discussions about urban public transit and intercity transportation, the focus has leaned heavily toward trains.

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The provincial government has expressed high interest in assembling a provincial passenger rail network while Calgary has been embroiled in a seemingly endless debate about the Green Line LRT which, in theory, will one day provide a one-seat ride from the deep south to north-central Calgary.

Far less time is spent devoted to the humble bus, even though a well-planned, well-run bus network can entice people as much as a train can to choose public transit over their private vehicles for some trips.

With transit agencies everywhere looking to renew aging fleets — including in Calgary, where many of its buses have been on the road for about 20 years — the federal government had stepped up with money for cities to buy emissions-free battery-electric buses.

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The program may have an unintended detrimental effect on the delivery of public transit: As Postmedia reported recently, Calgary Transit’s forthcoming order of electric buses will shrink from the planned 259 units to only 180.

Federal incentives for electric buses ironically reduce buying power

Although the federal government had kicked in $325 million in June 2023 to help the city acquire these buses, the cost per vehicle has since skyrocketed.

The federal government should have known its incentives would have had inflationary effects.

It’s not as if buses are something a transit agency can buy off the shelf from anywhere. These are specialized vehicles with a limited number of suppliers who themselves have limited production capacity.

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This is bad news for transit agencies, who have seen their purchasing power shrink.

If the objective is to encourage more people to ditch their cars whenever they can, then Ottawa should be encouraging transit operators to buy as many buses as possible with the funds allotted, using vehicles appropriate to their needs, their operating environment and their budgets.

Battery-powered vehicles have efficiency on their side, according to data relating to passenger vehicles produced in 2015 by the U.S. Department of Energy. Batteries charged using energy produced from natural gas suffer less loss and produce fewer emissions, the agency found.

However, natural gas used directly as fuel still compares favourably to diesel in terms of engine exhaust.

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The limiting factor for batteries remains their capacity. Edmonton’s electric buses have a range of 340 km on paper but in real-life usage, they averaged only 117 km. Meanwhile, one major Canadian bus manufacturer says its compressed natural gas buses can go approximately 600 km on one fill.

This means transit agencies in Alberta opting for battery-powered buses will be paying a premium to reach zero tailpipe emissions and improved offset emissions at the power generation stage.

In contrast, they could instead buy buses that run on compressed natural gas, obtain less-impressive emissions improvements but be able to purchase more vehicles, seeing how those are less expensive per unit than their battery-electric cousins.

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Having more buses matters more than what fuels the bus

Besides, the real impact occurs when people choose to ride a bus — however it is powered — and leave their own vehicle at home.

Even for a modern bus that runs on old-fashioned diesel, which pollutes more than than those running on natural gas, it only takes a handful of passengers on board for there to be an effective emissions reductions versus private vehicle use, according to calculations made in the United States.

Enamoured with zero-emission vehicles, the federal government incentive program for battery-powered buses has ironically made it harder for local authorities to get the new buses they need to renew and expand their transit fleets, hindering their ability to provide more and better service.

If Ottawa is intent on helping cities rejuvenate their stock of buses and encouraging people to leave their vehicles at home whenever they can, the incentive should be available for whatever type of vehicle works best for transit agencies, not whatever works best for the feds — even it if means buying buses powered by natural gas or diesel.

rleong@postmedia.com

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