I think a strong case can be made that most of the e-buses being deployed across Canada right now (at a cost measuring in at least a billion dollars) could be much more productively used in many other ways. The e-Buses are just worse than regular buses in most ways right now. - ThreadSky

rmtransit.bsky.social • 28 days ago

I think a strong case can be made that most of the e-buses being deployed across Canada right now (at a cost measuring in at least a billion dollars) could be much more productively used in many other ways. The e-Buses are just worse than regular buses in most ways right now.

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vitallytrivial.bsky.social•28 days ago

Oh I need more context here for sure. From my point of view I’ve always said driving an electric bus is less fatiguing than sitting on a noisy and vibrating diesel 7+ hours a day. What makes your electrics in Canada so bad?

rmtransit.bsky.social•28 days ago

For one they need diesel heaters in a big portion of the country or else they won't have enough range to be useable for half the year. The amount of time needed to charge also creates issues for operating the super heavy schedules we run, especially in Toronto (bus will be out for >12 hours)

ontariotrafficman.bsky.social•28 days ago

TransLink seems like the perfect spot for e-bus expansion since they already have an enormous in-motion charging network, avoiding the need for large batteries.

rmtransit.bsky.social•28 days ago

For sure, and they've on their own volition decided to do just that!

ellenteapot.ca•28 days ago

That’s what’s so interesting about the Letenda Electrip for me – *if* it meets expectations, it *could* be a genuine improvement on the community shuttle vehicles used today.

rmtransit.bsky.social•28 days ago

For sure, but they didnt order 1000 haha. I think it makes more sense in the community shuttle format too

panda354.bsky.social•28 days ago

I think electric buses (including trolley buses) are better (i.e more smooth, comfortable, clean).

BUT, it is NOT a better use of funds than increasing service levels and expanding service.

rmtransit.bsky.social•28 days ago

It's not reasonable to compare capital and operating costs, but I think there's better Capital spending we could be doing than electric buses

panda354.bsky.social•28 days ago

That's fair. I just meant in terms of buying more conventional buses vs buying less electric buses. That would impact the service levels / the amount of service.

nealjennings.bsky.social•28 days ago

If the long term goal is fossil-fuel-free public transit though, isn't investing in trials now a necessary step, even if expensive?

rmtransit.bsky.social•28 days ago

Trials sure, thats not really what we are doing

nealjennings.bsky.social•28 days ago

Oh. Well, it's what we're doing here. https://buzzer.translink.ca/2025/03/were-testing-a-30-foot-battery-electric-bus/

rmtransit.bsky.social•28 days ago

For sure, but TL and agencies across Canada are also having full sized e-buses pushed on them

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