Halifax launches 60 new electric buses into transit fleet

Halifax has officially launched its 60 new electric transit buses into service, a move the city says will save thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions each year.

On Tuesday, politicians, transit workers and municipal staff gathered at the Ragged Lake Transit Centre to mark the end of the first phase of the Halifax Regional Municipality's zero-emission bus project.

The $112-million project, supported by all three levels of government, saw Halifax bring in 60 battery-powered electric vehicles from Nova Bus to replace diesel models. The Ragged Lake depot was expanded to handle the buses and new charging stations, and solar panels were added to the facility's roof.

"It's incredibly exciting. We've been working towards this for a long time and to finally be able to cut the ribbon on this new facility, I think it's a big milestone for Halifax Transit," Anthony Edmonds, project manager of fleet electrification for Halifax Transit, told reporters.

"I think it's a sign of more things to come and the start of a really bright, green future."

The project was first announced in 2021, with the first electric bus arriving in December 2023 for training and road testing. The remaining buses have arrived over the past year, with three entering service this past December.

Some electric vehicles can struggle in winter weather, but Edmonds said Halifax's models have diesel auxiliary heaters that allow them to burn a small amount of fuel on very cold days to increase their range between charges.

"Of course, part of the extensive testing that we've done has been to see what the performance is like in the winter and to make sure that they meet our needs, even on the harshest days when there is a foot of snow on the ground, and when it's –20 and blowing. So we should be all right," Edmonds said.

The buses have a regenerative braking system — hitting the brake pedal charges the battery powering the motor.

The municipality said it expects the new buses to save about 2,800 tonnes of carbon emissions this year in comparison to diesel models. Edmonds said it means saving "thousands and thousands" of litres of expensive diesel fuel every week.

The buses have the same capacity as the current diesel models so passengers might not notice when they board an electric bus, Edmonds said. But the electric ones are much quieter, and there won't be a cloud of diesel fumes when they pull away from a stop, he added.

To make sure people with vision loss know when an electric bus is getting close, each will have an alerting system that sends "unobtrusive warning sounds" when the bus is going slowly, according to Halifax's website.

Edmonds said the buses will be deployed throughout the network because most of Halifax's routes are conducive to electrification. Transit staff will rotate the vehicles between routes to track how they perform in different areas and with challenges like hills.

The total price tag had $45 million coming from the federal government, $37 million from the province and $30 million from Halifax.

Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore said he was "very proud" that the municipality is the first in Atlantic Canada to see a large number of electric buses enter service.

Halifax plans to eventually have about 200 zero-emission buses. The municipality said upgrading the Burnside Transit Centre to a net-zero facility to house those vehicles is Phase 2 of the plan, which is expected to be completed by 2028.

Many of the rest of the buses will be electric, but Fillmore said Halifax is also exploring hydrogen fuel cells to find out what the best mix of technologies should be.

A report coming to Halifax's audit and finance committee Wednesday shows that Halifax plans to convert four diesel buses to a dual-fuel (hydrogen/diesel) system this September for a pilot project aimed to finish in December 2026.

The provincial government is providing $367,500 from its Clean Fuels Fund for the hydrogen pilot, with HRM paying about $122,500.

Nova Scotia and Halifax have committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.