Calgary Transit will be adding 120 new electric buses by 2027, but it’s down from the originally planned 180 due to inflation and potential US tariff pressures.

The bus purchase is part of a $450 million plan to add electric buses to the fleet to replace aging, end-of-life diesel buses, first announced in 2023. The City of Calgary contributed $100 million to the plan, and the federal government contributed $220 million. There’s also $123 million in Canada Infrastructure Bank financing.

Calgary Transit director Sharon Fleming said the original plan was for 180 buses, but the order was scaled back to 120.

“We did adjust the number of buses because we increased our contingency for tariffs, just in case,” Fleming told LWC.

“At this point, we’re going to order 120. We do have some options to buy more.”

While the $1.72 million Nova LFSe+ buses built by Nova Bus are manufactured in Saint-Eustache, Quebec, there are parts sourced from various suppliers around the world, including in the United States.

The buses cost roughly 40 per cent more than conventional diesel or compressed natural gas (CNG) buses. According to the city’s project page, they can buy up to 40 additional buses because of the additional federal government funding, allowing them to get a better overall price per bus.

Over time, the City said the buses should lower overall operating costs for Calgary Transit and also provide the overall environmental benefits.

Fleming said they would see how tariffs impact the final cost of the buses before deciding if they can buy more.

The first buses are expected to arrive in 2027, with the final arrivals coming in 2028.

Calgary did have to delay an electric shuttle bus pilot project because the company contracted to provide the buses went into receivership. That resulted in provincial Emissions Reductions Alberta funding being pulled and the project ultimately scuppered, according to Fleming.

Ongoing diversification of the Calgary Transit fleet

The buses continue to move Calgary away from the traditional diesel-powered buses, in favour of CNG, renewable natural gas, or biogas (RNG), or even hydrogen-powered buses, Fleming said.

“(Electric) is only one part of that diversification strategy, representing about 10 per cent of the fleet,” she said.

There had been a push by some councillors to pause the procurement of electric buses, particularly as new technology, like hydrogen fuel cells, advanced. Further, there was concern about the impact of the heavier vehicles on Calgary roads.

“Who knows what new technologies are going to come down the road,” Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean said during last November’s budget deliberation.

“I just think now is it time that we should maybe put a pause on this, because it could blow up in our faces.”

Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness, who put forward the motion to pause the electric bus procurement, also said at the time she was worried about the reliability of the buses and how they would still be on the hook for the federal loan.

“What we’ve seen from our neighbouring municipalities, what we’re seeing from the sector, not just bus providers, but even the automobile industry, is an early adoption that is not working, and the taxpayer should not have to support this risky endeavour,” she said last November.

“Maybe in 10 years, when there is actually reliability, we can make the switch, or by then, we’ll probably be switching into hydrogen, as we talked about in other sectors.”

Buses like the ones ordered by Calgary Transit are already successfully in operation in Banff, Toronto and Ottawa, according to the City of Calgary.  They also said that the buses won’t have a significant impact on Calgary roads because there are few of them and due to the low frequency of use on select routes.

Fleming said that they’re keeping their eye on a hydrogen proof-of-concept plan that’s being piloted with partners in Edmonton and Strathcona County. She said that it wasn’t possible to run in Calgary due to a lack of fueling stations.

These new buses will be delivered on an ongoing basis through 2027 and into 2028, Fleming said. They typically come in one or two at a time.

“The way that buses are produced is that they tool up the line to meet the requirements for an order,” Fleming said.

“So, once they start coming, they come, and generally we see them trickle in, like one or two per week, and they come on a flatbed from Quebec.”

The bus design is similar to that of the current Nova CNG buses, according to the City.

Calgary has done work to upgrade the Spring Gardens bus garage, adding 14 electric bus charging stations.