Winnipeg Transit turns to New Flyer for zero-emission buses
Winnipeg Transit, the public transport company in the capital of the Canadian province of Manitoba, has signed a framework agreement with New Flyer to deliver battery and fuel cell electric buses.
The contract includes firm orders for eight battery and fuel cell buses each and options for up to 150 zero-emission buses over the next four years.
For the time being, Winnipeg Transit expects New Flyer to deliver four Xcelsior Charge FCs in twelve and 18-metre lengths and four Xcelsior Charge NGs in twelve and 18-metre sizes. The Canada Infrastructure Program subsidises the procurement.
Winnipeg Transit reportedly plans to electrify its bus fleet entirely by 2040. In April 2022, it announced that it would put 110 battery and fuel cell buses into service by 2027, thus electrifying about 15 per cent of its bus fleet. The five-year contract now signed goes beyond this goal.
In 2021, Winnipeg Transit applied for funding from the above-mentioned Investing in Canada Infrastructure programme. The current announcement does not comment on the scope of the financing. In April, however, it was said that if the decision was favourable, the federal government would cover up to 40 per cent of the costs, the province of Manitoba 30 per cent and the City of Winnipeg the rest.
The partnership between New Flyer parent company, NFI and Winnipeg Transit goes back 35 years. NFI says it has delivered more than 1,560 buses to Winnipeg Transit since 1987. “We are now proudly enabling the agency’s transition to a low-carbon future through our efficient, long-range battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell-electric buses for healthier Manitoba communities,” said Chris Stoddart, President, North American Bus and Coach, NFI.
Winnipeg Transit enables more than 48 million trips every year and was named one of Canada’s most efficient transit systems. The Winnipeg Metropolitan Region has a populace of 834,678, according to the 2021 census, therefore hosting the majority of people living in Manitoba.
