Transit agencies in Montreal and Laval, Quebec are on the verge of buying 40 new electric buses from Winnipeg-based New Flyer Canada ULC, in what the company is calling Canada’s biggest battery-electric bus procurement to date.
New Flyer expects formal notice to deliver one bus for pilot testing by October 31, and “notice to proceed for the production buses is expected following the nine-month review of the pilot bus,” the company said in a release.
“New Flyer is proud to deliver on Canada’s largest battery-electric, zero-emission bus procurement, bringing electric mobility to the communities of Laval and Montréal,” said the company’s vice president of sales and marketing, Jennifer McNeill. “We remain committed to creating more livable cities through engineering smarter and more efficient buses, and working collaboratively with industry leaders such as STL and STM to deliver connected, zero-emission public transit solutions.”
Laval and Montreal have committed to buying only electric buses as of 2023 and 2025 respectively, New Flyer states. With this deal, the company says it now supplies vehicles to all 25 of North America’s largest transit agencies.
New Flyer, a subsidiary of Toronto-based NFI Group Inc., was founded in Winnipeg in 1930. NFI styles itself as North America’s biggest bus manufacturer, with 2017 revenues of US$2.4 billion and nearly 6,000 employees in 31 locations across the U.S. and Canada. NFI Board Chair Brian Tobin is a former premier of Newfoundland and Labrador and former federal cabinet minister.
“The benefits of 100% electric transit are varied,” writes CleanTechnica’s Cynthia Shahan, after riding on a New Flyer XcelsiorÆ electric bus during a demonstration a couple of years ago hosted by the U.S. Sierra Club and the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority in Florida. “They significantly limit toxic fumes and dirty particulates, they reduce headaches and asthma as a result, they’re quieter and comfier thanks to the smooth electric powertrain, and they eliminate reliance on expensive gasoline and diesel fuel.” (h/t to CleanTechnica for pointing us to this story)
