Coming soon: e-Bus Ottawa Campaign #ebusottawa

We are seeking the following from Ottawa City Council to match the commitments already made by Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Laval and Edmonton:

To run an electric bus pilot in 2020
To introduce electric buses on regular service by 2021
To purchase only electric buses starting in 2024
To have a 100% electric bus fleet by 2035

Why should OC Transpo start the switch to electric buses?

Fighting Climate Change

OC Transpo buses produce 45% of the emissions from the City of Ottawa’s operations
Electric buses have 95% lower emissions
If the City of Ottawa is do its share to meet Canada’s Paris goals, for 2030 and 2050, action is required to plan the transition now.

Improving Transit

e-Buses are nicer to ride, quieter and cleaner
They are more reliable, meaning more time on the road, less in the shop for repairs
e-Buses mean more transit with the same operating budget

Saving Money

e-Buses are much cheaper to operate
Fuel costs – a fully electric fleet will save about $30 million per year
Maintenance costs – a fully electric fleet will save about $20 million per year

EVCO is working with the Healthy Transportation Coalition and Ecology Ottawa to gain these commitments in 2019.

Electric Vehicles – A bridge to Paris

EVs offer a unique opportunity to make progress on our Paris commitments and to reduce the cost of living for Canadians.

EVs are an ideal choice for families on a tight budget. Why? Because operating costs for EVs are a small fraction of those of an internal combustion engine (ICE) car:

Electricity costs 80-90% less than equivalent gas
EVs require much less maintenance – no oil changes, no tune ups, brakes last much longer

In Canada, transportation accounts for about 1/3 of green house gas (GHG) emissions. Personal transportation accounts for most of that. If all Canadians adopted EV’s, that would bring us a very long way towards our Paris Climate Agreement commitments.