Quebec City transit has recently started running these little guys around the downtown core. How recently? - the one I was in only had 648km on it! According to the city transit website ( french / english translation) they can run approximately 100km per charge so mine had only been in service for about a week. 
The driver figured they cost the city about $400 000 by the time they were shipped to Canada and had heaters installed. I spoke to a Quebec City council member on Sunday and he confirmed that the price was about that. They have tested them in the winter and didn't see any problems. 
After a little sleuthing on the web I found the Italian manufacturer's website . They suggest that the bus can handle up to 31 passengers at a time (some standing and some sitting). During a conference break I had a chance to sit down with Jeremy and Ted from Medicine Hat. They were pretty interested in the ecolobus too so maybe there's an opportunity for GP and Med Hat (and others in the province) to get together and make a bulk purchase. I would like to see our transit department contact the other mid-sized cities in Alberta and see if we can get something going.
The smaller size even makes good sense for growing communities like GP. One of the challenges we face with Transit is that we have new neighbourhoods where the road network isn't fully built, making it tough to find a good route for a big bus. We also have areas where there isn't quite the density to demand a large bus, yet. Smaller buses (no matter what they run on) might be the answer.
So, what do you think; should GP invest in some, money saving, clean running buses?
10 comments:
The short answer is no.
But you did bring up a fabulous point about bulk purchasing. In an ideal world the City could/should make all purchases of any product(within reason of course)via bulk purchasing.From trucks, computers, paper,gravel...etc. The savings would be immense, I imagine.
The short answer is no.
But you did bring up a fabulous point about bulk purchasing. In an ideal world the City could/should make all purchases of any product(within reason of course)via bulk purchasing.From trucks, computers, paper,gravel...etc. The savings would be immense, I imagine.
BTW, I hope your girlfriend is recovering well.
I think these buses would be a great idea for GP
I hope you continue to investigate it for us and also work with other Alberta communities for bulk purchase.
yes the buses would be great for G.P.
According to the RTC website, it can only accommodate 20 passengers... 10 standing and 10 sitting.
Anon 8:24 .... I had noticed the seating point as well but the manufacturer's website says that they have a new seating arrangement that can handle up to 30.
Hello Bill,
I am with the Town of Banff, we run a small Transit system called "ROAM" transit, with an all Hybrid fleet. I like these smaller all electric buses as well, and think they would be great to have for some smaller, less populated routes. If Med. Hat and GP are looking into these, could you send us some information as well?
I live and work in the Boston area, and I too saw these buses when traveling to Quebec. I think that buses like these would be suitable for some routes in the Boston area, especially because of how well they appear to handle the tight streets.
I also found myself excited about a bus for the first time... ever--because they seemed so speedy and exciting. I think public perception of bus transit is a critical and often under-appreciated issue in getting new riders to leave their cars behind and commute by transit.
So whatever happened to that?
Whatever happened to the idea of getting these busses?
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