TransLink wants $447 million from governments to move toward all-electric bus fleet

Going green takes a lot of green.

TransLink provides public transit throughout Metro Vancouver andhas a strategy to electrify nearly two-thirds of its buses in the next decade. Itsays that will require$447 million in additional funding from higher levels of government.

"The time is now and it's urgent. If we did not have the funding we would have to buy more hybrid diesel buses," said TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond at a meeting of the Mayors' Council on Thursday.

The funding would purchase 635 battery-powered electric buses and allow 64 per cent of TransLink's bus fleet to be electric by 2030. It's part of an overall strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

TransLink argues the window of opportunity is short because it will soon be building a new transit centre in Vancouver's Marpole neighbourhood. If funding for an electric fleet comes through, they could make it an electric-vehicle only facility.

"We think there's a huge opportunity to take some big steps with the electrification of our buses, but decisions are going to have to be made in the next year," said Mayors' Council chairJonathan Cot.

Feds yes, province maybe

Cotmade his remarks followinga meeting where mayors unanimously endorsed TransLink's strategy, though not without some debate.

"Over 20 years ago, I was driving the Ballard test buses for hydrogen fuel cells, and we're still working on that technology," said Coquitlam Coun. Brent Asmundson, a former bus driver for theCoast Mountain Bus Company, who worried about fully committing to a still-evolving technology.

Desmond said there were fewer risks to transitioning to an all-electric fleet.

"Electric buses in North America are now in multiple generations I don't think we're going to be on the bleeding edge," he said.

"We won't have to commit to one generation [of technology]for hundreds and hundreds of buses. We'll be able to move along the arc of technology."

TransLink said it received encouraging signs from Infrastructure and Communities Minister Catherine McKenna when she met with local mayors last week, but it was still unclear whether the province would support and fund its strategy.

"At this point, we still don't have the strong clarity from the provincial government," saidCot.

"We know they have strong mandates when it comes to climate change ... but we've yet to see clear outlines of exactly how that might translate to a program that will help with the electrification of buses."