[drum118]

TTC reaches new eBus milestone with over 100 vehicles in service

June 25, 2025

The TTC now has over 100 battery-electric buses in service across the city, marking another milestone in its goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. These buses will serve communities all over the city and are funded jointly by the federal government and the City of Toronto.

By Q2 2026 , all 340 electric buses under procurement will have been delivered, bringing the total eBus fleet to 400.

\"This is what federal investment in climate action and public infrastructure looks like,” said Karim Bardeesy, Member of Parliament for Taiaiako'n-Parkdale-High-Park. “100 electric buses on the road in Toronto is a major milestone – it means modern transit, cleaner air, and quieter streets for the people of Toronto. It’s good for public transit, for the health of our communities and the future of our planet. We’re proud to partner with the City of Toronto and the TTC to help deliver a greener, more sustainable future.\"

“Reliable, environmentally friendly public transit is a priority for the City of Toronto,\" said Mayor Olivia Chow. “I am pleased to see the TTC making progress on its goal of fleet electrification and achieving a cleaner, greener future for everyone.”

“Our goal is to run a transit system that customers can be proud of, and zero-emission vehicles are the future of sustainable transit,” said TTC Chair Jamaal Myers. “The TTC continues to increase its fleet of environmentally friendly vehicles and make significant strides towards a zero-emissions future. I want to thank the Government of Canada and the City of Toronto for their partnership and support.”

“We are proud to be paving the way for transit electrification across North America, and bringing new, clean, quiet vehicles to customers and employees across the City of Toronto,” said Greg Percy, TTC interim CEO. “We are very pleased to be moving forward with our sustainability goals, while also providing a better transit experience for our customers.”

The TTC is a leader in zero-emission fleet management in North America. In addition to the battery-electric fleet, hybrid-electric buses currently make up approximately 30 per cent of the TTC's entire bus fleet. Hybrid-electric buses use approximately 25% less fuel than diesel buses and run as zero-emission buses in Green Zones—locations where the diesel generator turns off completely, improving local air quality. The TTC is also procuring five battery-electric Wheel-Trans buses, which are expected to be in service for testing in 2026, followed by a 2-year pilot evaluation.

 

[Steve X]

TTC reaches new eBus milestone with over 100 vehicles in service

June 25, 2025

The TTC now has over 100 battery-electric buses in service across the city, marking another milestone in its goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. These buses will serve communities all over the city and are funded jointly by the federal government and the City of Toronto.

By Q2 2026 , all 340 electric buses under procurement will have been delivered, bringing the total eBus fleet to 400.

\"This is what federal investment in climate action and public infrastructure looks like,” said Karim Bardeesy, Member of Parliament for Taiaiako'n-Parkdale-High-Park. “100 electric buses on the road in Toronto is a major milestone – it means modern transit, cleaner air, and quieter streets for the people of Toronto. It’s good for public transit, for the health of our communities and the future of our planet. We’re proud to partner with the City of Toronto and the TTC to help deliver a greener, more sustainable future.\"

“Reliable, environmentally friendly public transit is a priority for the City of Toronto,\" said Mayor Olivia Chow. “I am pleased to see the TTC making progress on its goal of fleet electrification and achieving a cleaner, greener future for everyone.”

“Our goal is to run a transit system that customers can be proud of, and zero-emission vehicles are the future of sustainable transit,” said TTC Chair Jamaal Myers. “The TTC continues to increase its fleet of environmentally friendly vehicles and make significant strides towards a zero-emissions future. I want to thank the Government of Canada and the City of Toronto for their partnership and support.”

“We are proud to be paving the way for transit electrification across North America, and bringing new, clean, quiet vehicles to customers and employees across the City of Toronto,” said Greg Percy, TTC interim CEO. “We are very pleased to be moving forward with our sustainability goals, while also providing a better transit experience for our customers.”

The TTC is a leader in zero-emission fleet management in North America. In addition to the battery-electric fleet, hybrid-electric buses currently make up approximately 30 per cent of the TTC's entire bus fleet. Hybrid-electric buses use approximately 25% less fuel than diesel buses and run as zero-emission buses in Green Zones—locations where the diesel generator turns off completely, improving local air quality. The TTC is also procuring five battery-electric Wheel-Trans buses, which are expected to be in service for testing in 2026, followed by a 2-year pilot evaluation.

If we count the 60 that has been in service back in 2019/2020, there are over 140 that has been in service. Of course less than half of those 60 are actually active as they are sidelined.

 

[kvvoyage]

Apologies as I've been out of the country for a bit - how's the electrification in Malvern going?

 

[Bordercollie]

If we count the 60 that has been in service back in 2019/2020, there are over 140 that has been in service. Of course less than half of those 60 are actually active as they are sidelined.

I've seen proterras and BYD's in service. Are they doing better?

What happened to the E LFS delivered earlier this year?

 

[APTA-2048]

I've seen proterras and BYD's in service. Are they doing better?

What happened to the E LFS delivered earlier this year?

Some Proterras are out of service because of the manufacturer’s bankruptcy and then sale. BYDs seem to be making it out regularly.

The first Nova was mostly used for training. But now that deliveries have started again, it’s been put into service. There were many TTC buses at the factory earlier this month, so expect them to be coming in regularly.

 

[APTA-2048]

Looks like the TTC has a Chevrolet Brightdrop service vehicle.

 

[RapidTransit]

Looks like the TTC has a Chevrolet Brightdrop service vehicle.

I've seen them for a few months now.

I recall Doug Ford encouraging government services to purchase them. Also acknowledged the high cost of them, but in the name of saving jobs.

Has GM stopped production of these yet?

And talking about EV, I wonder how the new US legislation abandoning EV incentives will affect Canadas ambition to aggressively push for more EV sales?

A lot of the stakeholders like auto manufacturering have been loosing money . Share holders have also been losing money, with major discounts and incentives just to get them off the lot. Selling EV at a major loss. And owners outside city centers and urban areas regretting their purchase of EV, with higher insurance, and charging inability, etc.

Even TTC is fishy with how they report status of their EV fleet when they're not in service and stuck in the garage. Something that Steve Munro called them out on a few times.

Toyota already claims that EV productions is more harmful to the environment. I assume from getting the raw material and then disposing of the batteries. It's harmful to the environment. Ironically the same environment it should be saving.

I expect TTC to keep ordering more EV untill they can't hide the reality of unreliable EV buses in their fleet. Similar to 20 years ago with the hybrid fiasco.
I love the operational side of EV, but with anxiety about charging them outside of urban areas ,higher insurance, and major loss in depreciation, it becomes less attractive.

I do however like the odds with hydrogen technology. Something Toyota appears to favor more. I believe Mississauga Transit is also studying, and possibly have plans to purchase them in the near future. And Canadian made which is a plus.

 

[rbt]

I've seen them for a few months now.

I recall Doug Ford encouraging government services to purchase them. Also acknowledged the high cost of them, but in the name of saving jobs.

Has GM stopped production of these yet?

Yes and no. They shutdown for line until fall, they're retooling during this period, and intend to restart with a single shift in the fall. So production capacity will be reduced but not to zero.

 

[APTA-2048]

Apologies as I've been out of the country for a bit - how's the electrification in Malvern going?

Next week two Flyers are coming down for electric bus familiarization.

 

[drum118]

I cannot speak to other cities like NYC, Chicago and other large cities out west, but most large cities I have seen the last 2 years haven't moved to ebuses like TTC. Cost and delivery timeframe seem to be a problem ordering them even as a test program, especially those who buy Gillig buses only.

Some cities are moving to CNG while others are scraping them, Some systems have stop using Proterra buses due to lack of parts and the bankrupt of it. Greensboro had 17 buses last year in service that made up almost 50% of the fleet with only 4 in service this year.

Looking at Knoxville system for the first time this year, they have 12 New Flyer 40' and 35' buses and the largest number of any system to date I have seen. Haven't seen any BYD or Gillig buses yet considering a few are to have Gillig ebuses a few years ago.

One thing that caught my eye this year was Dayton trolley buses with the bulk of the buses been used as an ebus with only a few with poles up for the trolley line service,,

The other thing I noticed the past 2 years, a fair number of systems buses are well over the 12 year life cycle with most at 18-20 years old unless they are not being funded by the Fed's.

As for hydrogen technology., yet to see anyone trying it out. Mississauga has put off ordering the plan 10 hydrogen buses until next year as well the 80 buses due this year due to capital issues. Even Europe has only a few of them

 

[Amare]

I cannot speak to other cities like NYC, Chicago and other large cities out west, but most large cities I have seen the last 2 years haven't moved to ebuses like TTC. Cost and delivery timeframe seem to be a problem ordering them even as a test program, especially those who buy Gillig buses only.

Some cities are moving to CNG while others are scraping them, Some systems have stop using Proterra buses due to lack of parts and the bankrupt of it. Greensboro had 17 buses last year in service that made up almost 50% of the fleet with only 4 in service this year.

Looking at Knoxville system for the first time this year, they have 12 New Flyer 40' and 35' buses and the largest number of any system to date I have seen. Haven't seen any BYD or Gillig buses yet considering a few are to have Gillig ebuses a few years ago.

One thing that caught my eye this year was Dayton trolley buses with the bulk of the buses been used as an ebus with only a few with poles up for the trolley line service,,

The other thing I noticed the past 2 years, a fair number of systems buses are well over the 12 year life cycle with most at 18-20 years old unless they are not being funded by the Fed's.

As for hydrogen technology., yet to see anyone trying it out. Mississauga has put off ordering the plan 10 hydrogen buses until next year as well the 80 buses due this year due to capital issues. Even Europe has only a few of them

We're going off topic here, but with a certain U.S administration in office, any push for e-buses is going to be drastically reduced.

Unless individual states are funding such measures, most transit agencies are going to order diesel or CNG buses. The U.S Feds have no interest pursuing "green" initiatives, and they'll likely pull any funding associated with "green" bus purchases.

The TTC (via the Feds) have rushed into the whole e-bus initiative, even prematurely retiring some current diesel buses just so they can push the e-bus ratio count higher. Time will tell if we'll pay the price for rushing into e-buses, and let's hope it doesn't turn into the 1st generation hybrid bus fiasco that we had.

 

[Bordercollie]

We're going off topic here, but with a certain U.S administration in office, any push for e-buses is going to be drastically reduced.

Unless individual states are funding such measures, most transit agencies are going to order diesel or CNG buses. The U.S Feds have no interest pursuing "green" initiatives, and they'll likely pull any funding associated with "green" bus purchases.

The TTC (via the Feds) have rushed into the whole e-bus initiative, even prematurely retiring some current diesel buses just so they can push the e-bus ratio count higher. Time will tell if we'll pay the price for rushing into e-buses, and let's hope it doesn't turn into the 1st generation hybrid bus fiasco that we had.

The New Flyer electric buses seem to be doing okay. I haven't seen dozens of them being towed.

Also the first Gen hybrids were problematic but they did their time and lasted as long as most diesel buses. Otherwise they would have been retired instead of being rebuilt.

 

[Amare]

The New Flyer electric buses seem to be doing okay. I haven't seen dozens of them being towed.

Also the first Gen hybrids were problematic but they did their time and lasted as long as most diesel buses. Otherwise they would have been retired instead of being rebuilt.

We're in very early days with the electric buses, let's revisit in 5 years. The New Flyers are the more reliable e-buses on the market in any case. The Nova e-buses on the other hand, who knows- the TTC didnt extensively test them. So we're essentially getting a big load of them and putting them in service without very reliable info (asides from the manufacturer and from Brampton transit who have fairly recently obtained the same model).

As for the 1st Gen hybrids, just ask the mechanics about some of the miracles they had to pull to keep them on the road for as long as they've been on the road for. Many of those hybrids have had far more problems compared to the diesels the TTC has recently rush-retired.

 

[smallspy]

We're in very early days with the electric buses, let's revisit in 5 years. The New Flyers are the more reliable e-buses on the market in any case. The Nova e-buses on the other hand, who knows- the TTC didnt extensively test them. So we're essentially getting a big load of them and putting them in service without very reliable info (asides from the manufacturer and from Brampton transit who have fairly recently obtained the same model).

As for the 1st Gen hybrids, just ask the mechanics about some of the miracles they had to pull to keep them on the road for as long as they've been on the road for. Many of those hybrids have had far more problems compared to the diesels the TTC has recently rush-retired.

What diesels did the TTC recently rush-retire? The only fleet of buses that was "recently" retired en mass ahead of its traditional retirement date was the early Orion VII diesels, and those were replaced with Nova diesels. Everything that is currently being retired is due to be retired. Everything that is being put out to pasture is because it's no longer economically worthwhile to repair it.

While you're doing that, don't forget to ask them about the shit they've gone through with the post-07 buses versus the older ones. Urea, while necessary for modern diesels, is a brutal thing on systems that aren't designed to handle it.

Dan

 

[Amare]

What diesels did the TTC recently rush-retire? The only fleet of buses that was "recently" retired en mass ahead of its traditional retirement date was the early Orion VII diesels, and those were replaced with Nova diesels. Everything that is currently being retired is due to be retired. Everything that is being put out to pasture is because it's no longer economically worthwhile to repair it.

While you're doing that, don't forget to ask them about the shit they've gone through with the post-07 buses versus the older ones. Urea, while necessary for modern diesels, is a brutal thing on systems that aren't designed to handle it.

Dan

I was referring to some of the NG Orion diesels that have been recently retired.

Some yes were retired because repairing wouldnt be worth it. Others more questionable when there are some hybrids in worse running condition than the diesels that were retired.

But yes DEF is a whole thing to deal with as well.