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Wow bold move for Vancouver, going all in on Solaris for their trolleybus fleet. That very well may be the foot in the door for that company uses to gather some strong market interest and share in the North American bus industry.

I'm even more for it if it helps give NovaBus a further good punch in the gut.
 
Wow, another bus manufacturer winning in Canada. Despite the trump tariffs talks. Interesting.
Talking about trolleys. If we were to get them back in Toronto, Chow is really the only hope. I do wonder if Toronto will ever look towards trolleys ever again. I know David Miller did a study in 2008 or 2009.
I guess all the infrastructure is too far gone to ever bring them back. Even the routes for the most part have all changed to some degree and stations.
Danforth is still TTC property , if they were to never entertain it again.

Has TTC ever discussed testing or studying articulated EV buses or even fuel cell buses?
When it comes time to replace the 60 Diesels, which will happen In a few years, it's probably good to start looking at them now than later.

Amare said:
Wow bold move for Vancouver, going all in on Solaris for their trolleybus fleet. That very well may be the foot in the door for that company uses to gather some strong market interest and share in the North American bus industry.

I'm even more for it if it helps give NovaBus a further good punch in the gut.
Click to expand...
Quebec will die on the hill to save Nova. But I do agree with the sentiment.
 
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RapidTransit said:
Talking about trolleys. If we were to get them back in Toronto, Chow is really the only hope. I do wonder if Toronto will ever look towards trolleys ever again. I know David Miller did a study in 2008 or 2009.
I guess all the infrastructure is too far gone to ever bring them back. Even the routes for the most part have all changed to some degree and stations.
Danforth is still TTC property , if they were to never entertain it again.

Quebec will die on the hill to save Nova. But I do agree with the sentiment.
Click to expand...
As long as politicians here are drinking the green E-bus cool-aid, we'll never see trolley buses even considered. Why bother stringing together wires that may have issues in the winter climate (according to them), when you can have wireless/contactless buses operating on batteries and achieving the same/similar results?

Quebec will certainly do everything and anything to save their dear NovaBus and their badly designed buses from going under.
 
Voltz said:
It's too bad we haven't figured out how to sting overhead wires.
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We do have the overhead department. There's way less infrastructure for trolleys compared to streetcars and LRT. And no, I'm not putting two against each other, but we clearly have the department.
Only thing missing is garage, whether existing or old or new. And of course the buses. If there's a will for streetcars, I highly doubt trolleys is that much any difficult.
 
With in-motion charging on modern trolley buses, you can get away with a lot less special work at garages and short-turn loops.

Few of the old trolley routes would be ideal for re-electrification; except for the 4/26 (a minor route) and the 89 (until Crosstown opens) they’ve all been changed. If you were to string up wire again, you’d want to do long, busy routes, like 7 Bathurst and 29 Dufferin, both of which intersect the streetcar network, reducing the need for new substations.

It’d be great but very unlikely.
 
Milton’s diesel to electric conversion from MTB Transit Solutions has been delivered.

www.miltonnow.ca

Canada’s first mid-life diesel-to-electric bus makes inaugural trip in Milton

The Town of Milton provided a first-look at Canada's first mid-life diesel-to-electric bus conversion this wee...
www.miltonnow.ca www.miltonnow.ca

The bus will begin road testing in April to fine-tune features and procedures such as regenerative braking, battery performance, hill holds, passenger loading, route patterns, and acceleration. This will help Milton Transit understand and optimize the schedule when the bus enters in to regular service.
 
I've ridden on the BYD busses several times... They have the most uncomfortable seat! I find them far too reclined – my neck dislikes the experience.

Anyway, had to get that off my chest
 
PL1 said:
I've ridden on the BYD busses several times... They have the most uncomfortable seat! I find them far too reclined – my neck dislikes the experience.

Anyway, had to get that off my chest
Click to expand...
Better get used to them. Every new bus delivered since has those same seats installed.

Dan
 
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Reactions: PL1
Bit of an update from Malvern: transformer is complete. There’s a bit more work inside that might be completed by July. Backup generators still need to be finished.

McNicoll has put their electric buses into service.
 
APTA-2048 said:
Milton’s diesel to electric conversion from MTB Transit Solutions has been delivered.

www.miltonnow.ca

Canada’s first mid-life diesel-to-electric bus makes inaugural trip in Milton

The Town of Milton provided a first-look at Canada's first mid-life diesel-to-electric bus conversion this wee...
www.miltonnow.ca www.miltonnow.ca

The bus will begin road testing in April to fine-tune features and procedures such as regenerative braking, battery performance, hill holds, passenger loading, route patterns, and acceleration. This will help Milton Transit understand and optimize the schedule when the bus enters in to regular service.
Click to expand...
Now that I think about it. These BEV conversions are a great money saver for communities that aren't fully there yet in terms of purchasing new BEV's or new buses for that matter. I'll be looking forward to what Milton says about them in the coming months.
 
JJTheJetPln said:
Now that I think about it. These BEV conversions are a great money saver for communities that aren't fully there yet in terms of purchasing new BEV's or new buses for that matter. I'll be looking forward to what Milton says about them in the coming months.
Click to expand...
I can't wait to hear all the problems these custom solutions will develop in a few years down the road. The cost is said to be over $800,000 which I don't think is even worth it for a bus already at midlife. Let's hope they used components that can be easily procured or they might be stuck with a lemon.

Sorry to pour cold water on this folks.
 
Steve X said:
I can't wait to hear all the problems these custom solutions will develop in a few years down the road. The cost is said to be over $800,000 which I don't think is even worth it for a bus already at midlife. Let's hope they used components that can be easily procured or they might be stuck with a lemon.

Sorry to pour cold water on this folks.
Click to expand...
I don't think it's cold water at all, and I appreciate the contrast. Its always good to have differing opinions and facts laid out in any conversation because it helps fill in the void for some thoughts.

I have plenty of thoughts and questions too about this, but I'm holding off on them because I try not to assume how beneficial it will be - I want the actual data from the trips and whatnot, if that'll ever be made available. Or maybe an excerpt that shows how well it performs.
 
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