Unique new buses coming to MiWay fleet in Mississauga
Published October 16, 2019 at 10:00 pm
If you regularly use the bus to get around Mississauga, you might be happy to hear that the fleet just welcomed new buses–and these ones are a bit different.
On Oct. 16, MiWay announced the introduction of 10 new, next-generation hybrid-electric buses that are convertible to full battery power. These buses are intended to advance the city’s commitment to addressing climate change.
“We know that climate change is real, it’s here and it’s affecting our city,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie in a statement.
“Greening our transit fleet is one way that our city is taking meaningful action to reduce our carbon footprint. We will continue to apply a climate lens on everything we do to ensure that we can achieve an 80 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050. We can’t afford not to act. We owe it to the next generation.”
The new buses feature start-stop engine technology that shuts down the engine while stopped at bus stops and automatically restarts when the brake is released, achieving up to 25 per cent fuel savings.
They also feature all-drive control mechanisms and battery storage systems that are mounted on the roof, “plug and play” components that help to simplify the maintenance process and a reduced number of drive belts from four to one, which reduces the potential of breakdowns on the road and lowers overall maintenance costs.
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“These new buses are a key step on the road to electrification for the MiWay fleet,” said Geoff Marinoff, director, Transit.
“They are more fuel-efficient and can be converted to run on full battery power, further reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We’ll be evaluating how these buses perform in our system and monitoring further changes in technology to inform future bus purchases.”
The draft Climate Change Action Plan includes a number of actions designed to fight climate change, including replacing the transit bus fleet with low or zero-emission vehicles, assessing charging infrastructure options for future electrification of transit and developing a strategy for zero-emissions vehicles.
Following a public consultation period that will end on Oct. 18, 2019, a final draft Climate Change Action Plan is set to be presented to the mayor and members of council.
It will be presented by the end of 2019 for approval.
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