Green Buses To Hit Montreal

By Anthony Fontanelle

Montreal will go green as it paved the way for new hybrid buses en route for next year. Canada’s second most-visited city will introduce first hybrid electric-diesel transit buses in early 2008. The project will be backed by higher levels of government.

The Montreal Transit Corp.'s board of directors recently approved a financing deal with the federal and Quebec governments that will launch a $5.6 million-worth project.

The province will foot half the cost of the eight hybrid buses that are to be road-tested throughout 2008, using some of the money it receives on Montreal's behalf from a cut of the federal gasoline tax, MTC treasurer Luc Tremblay said.

The buses, made by Nova Bus of St. Eustache, will emit far less greenhouse gases because they are powered by a blend of electric power and a diesel engine, MTC executive director Yves Devin said.

“The MTC will pump biodiesel - fuel made with some organic material - into the hybrids to further curb pollution emissions,” Devin added. “The agency wants to see how they work this winter before buying more.”

The hybrid buses will be equipped with a diesel engine and an electric transmission box, which acts as transmission, generator and electric motor. Batteries, which are stored on the bus's roof, recharge when the vehicle brakes.

Although the price tag on a hybrid bus is $700,000 - $200,000 more than on a standard, low-floor MTC bus - there will be savings on gasoline and parts because the hybrids' engines and brakes will get less wear, Devin said. Their start date is being negotiated with Nova Bus, he added.

According to Autos Canada, the MTC will test hybrids on 66 The Boulevard, 80 Park Ave., 103 Monkland Ave., 105 Sherbrooke St., 162 Westminster Ave., 165 Cte des Neiges Rd., 166 Queen Mary Rd., and 535 Park Ave./Cte des Neiges Rd.

The routes are on busy thoroughfares and have frequent stops - ideal for the hybrid bus, Nova Bus spokesperson Nadine Bernard said. "The more stop-and-go you do, the more energy gets stored in the batteries," Bernard added.

As the bus accelerates when leaving a stop, electric power predominates, she said. At high speeds, the diesel engine takes over. In between, the bus is powered by a blend of both.
Hybrid buses use 19 to 28 per cent less fuel than a regular bus, said Serge Carignan, the MTC's director of studies and development. The MTC's 1,600 buses burn 45 million litres of fuel a year.
MTC vice-chairperson Marvin Rotrand, a city councillor, said that he is so convinced of the benefits of hybrid vehicles, he wants the city to oblige the taxi industry to switch, too. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered his city's 13,000 taxis to operate on hybrid engines by 2012, the report added.

"We'd love that," said Daniel Di Massimo, the director of development for Montreal-based Diamond Taxi, the largest cab company in the province. “But unlike New York and elsewhere, taxi firms in Quebec don't supply cars,” he said. “Drivers here own their vehicles, and requiring all of them to buy hybrids "would cause a revolt."

But Di Massimo predicted cabbies will come around to hybrids with time as they realize the potential cost savings.

According to watchers in the industry, with the rise of green vehicles in Canada, it is not impossible that the territories roads will be filled with green machines in the near future. Auto parts such as the brake booster Canada, engines tailpipes, and the like are now being enhanced to cater to the mileage regulations and respond to environment concerns.