LONDON, ONT -- “It’s a wish or a hope,” is what one city councillor had to say about Mayor Ed Holder’s plan to make London the first Canadian city to have a fully electric bus fleet.
Councillor and Transit Commissioner Phil Squire was not mincing his words Tuesday on what he feels is the reality of the request.
“We are seeing from LTC’s report there is a lot of work to be done finding money for the project … So the LTC sort of has to pick up the ball from where the Mayor left off.”
The ball he referring to is the request that Holder made during is State of the City Address to have London convert from diesel buses to electric.
However a new report set to be discussed at Wednesday’s LTC Commission meeting, highlights just how much that conversion may cost.
Electric buses are estimated to cost nearly double their diesel counterparts.
The move to electric would also require more than 100 charging stations at $130,000 apiece.
The report says that pilot projects in other Canadian cities such as Brampton and Vancouver will provide valuable information.
The first step recommended by the report is to spend $83,000 on a feasibility study.
