RC118 MayJune 2025 - Magazine - Page 14
TRANSIT
the new federal funding program could have on public
transit across the country in the years to come.
“We’ve been working closely with Housing,
Infrastructure and Communities Canada for many years…
advocating for the program, then helping to steer the
development of the program and how it will be rolled
out,” says McMull, adding that at the same time “we’re
seeing at the provincial level, di昀昀erent provinces are
investing in transit infrastructure as well.”
In terms of how that money will be allocated,
from CUTA’s perspective McMull notes that while
infrastructure spending on new transit lines in our cities
is important “we also need to make sure that there’s a
state of good repair, that there’s funds for maintaining
existing infrastructure.” Especially for cities such as
Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal he emphasizes… of
which “Montreal and Toronto are probably the hardest hit
because they have the oldest systems (with) an extremely
high state of good repair backlogs.”
Backlogs in part brought on by the supply chain
disruptions that occurred during COVID, the result of
which the average age of buses has gone from 8.3 years
in 2020 to 9.5 years in 2023, with older vehicles requiring
more frequent and costly maintenance.
Putting all of this into perspective CUTA’s website
shares that “this issue not only impacts operating budgets
but also underscores the urgent need for modernization.
Without timely investments in 昀氀eet upgrades, transit
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RENEW CANADA – MAY/JUNE 2025
systems risk falling behind in their ability to deliver
reliable and e昀케cient service.”
A zero argument for going green
In addressing its aging transit infrastructure challenges,
the City of Ottawa and its transit operator OC Transpo
have embraced a multi-pronged approach, from
the construction of its light-rail transit (LRT) system
(including the recent launch of lines 2 and 4) to the
phasing out of its aging diesel bus 昀氀eet to zero-emission
buses by 2036.
The latter to be kickstarted by the purchase of 350
zero-emission buses and related charging infrastructure. A
purchase made possible by a $350 million investment from
the federal government’s Zero Emission’s Transit Fund.
“That funding stream allows us to cover the di昀昀erence
between the cost of a diesel bus and an electric bus,”
observes Councillor Glen Gower, who is also the City of
Ottawa Transit Committee Chair.
As shared in a 2020 CBC story, “besides the
infrastructure cost of chargers, each electric bus can
cost $200,000 to $500,000 more per bus than an average
$750,000 diesel bus.” But while in Gower’s words “the
startup costs are signi昀椀cant… the total cost of ownership
is much less as well,” once you factor in such key
considerations as fuel and maintenance expenditures.
Making the transition to electric “a promising solution for
transit from a budget perspective,” he emphasizes.
Apart from lower maintenance costs, studies are
emerging that predict that by 2026 electric buses will cost
less to buy than their combustion engine counterparts.
And yet another, hidden cost consideration is public
health. According to Columbia University “swapping one
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CITY OF BRAMPTON
The City of Brampton has secured over $106 million in annual transit funding through the new
Canada Public Transit Fund (CPTF). The funding will help Brampton Transit upgrade, replace and
modernize its infrastructure while maintaining a state of good repair.
