Maintenance issues a drawback of transition to electric school buses, union says

The union representing P.E.I.'s school bus drivers says the transition to electric school buses has brought some growing pains along for the ride.

CUPE 1145 says maintenance issues have been persistent with some of the buses purchased by the province, and it's finding the new electric buses are being taken out of commission for longer when they break down due to the length of time required to complete the repairs.

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"There's a delay. So where before, you know, your bus might have been in for a day or two, now you're looking at day or two, to a week or two, to a month or two," said Rob Harding, the union vice-president.

"So that's some frustration there."

Newly arrived buses subbing in

Of the 88 electric buses used by the French and English school boards, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure said 16 are currently out being repaired — about 18 per cent of the fleet.  

No one from the department was available for an interview Thursday, but in an email, officials said 11 of the buses should be repaired quickly, while five will be out for a longer period of time.

Do I get calls that drivers and our members are frustrated? Absolutely. Do I hear positive feedback from these buses? Absolutely.— Rob Harding, union vice-president

The department said the maintenance issues are not affecting service to schools; some newly arrived buses have not been assigned to routes yet but are being used as spares.

But the union said the frequency of the breakdowns is having an impact on the drivers.

"It's a delay on our routes and it's a delay for the buses and the students getting to the schools, which affects the schools as well. We have to wait for another bus to come," said Jason MacKinnon, past president of CUPE 1145.

MacKinnon is using one of the spares while his assigned electric bus is being repaired.

"Mine has been down quite a bit just because of a lot of electrical issues and a lot of heating issues and things like that. I'm into another new electric bus. It has a little bit of issues but it's going well so far," he said.

The province said buses powered by fossil fuels also break down, but they can usually be repaired more quickly due to the staff's longer experience with repairing traditional combustion engines. 

Some of the repair work on the electric buses is also covered under warranty and is either completed by the manufacturer or carried out by provincial staff and billed back to the manufacturer. 

"Do I get calls that drivers and our members are frustrated? Absolutely," said Harding. 

"Do I hear positive feedback from these buses? Absolutely. We encourage them to let our supervisors know… but with the growing pains, there's some stuff that it's new to everybody. So yeah, there's gonna be some challenges for sure."

Harding himself said he looks forward to the day he gets assigned an electric bus and Level 2 charger for his home — something he's told will happen soon.

"I'm looking forward to the new chapter of an electric bus and the challenges and the pluses that come with it."