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HALIFAX, N.S. —

Halifax Regional Municipality completely missed the bus with a recent tender announcement, Coun. Richard Zurawski says.

“You can’t declare a climate emergency and then go buy 150 diesel buses, which have lifetimes of up to 20 years and then say, ‘well, we didn’t install an infrastructure years ago, so it is going to be expensive to install an infrastructure and we can’t afford it,” said Zurawski, who represents the area of Timberlea, Clayton Park and Beechville on council.

The municipality two weeks ago issued requests for proposals for 150 new Halifax Transit buses to be supplied from 2020 to 2022.

The proposal estimates that transit will require 46 buses in 2020, 63 the year after and 40 in 2022 as replacements for buses that have run their course or for expansion to support the transit system’s multi-year plan. The replacement plan is based on a 14-year life cycle for a bus.

The 126-page proposal lays out detailed requirements for the submitted bus plan to replace 45 per cent of Halifax Transit’s fleet of 330 conventional buses.

Each 12.2-metre bus must have at least 36 seats for passengers with the accommodation for two-rear facing mobility aids and a restraint system to secure wheelchairs.

It’s the diesel engines that will run the buses that concern Zurawski, who in January led the charge for council to declare a climate emergency.



In August, the municipality introduced its HaliFACT 2050 action plan that stated to be consistent with a United Nations climate panel recommendation, the municipality would need to reduce carbon emissions by 75 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2050.

“I’m a little baffled by this,” Zurawski said of the diesel bus proposal. “I am going to be bringing a motion to council about how did we get to this point where we are not discussing electric buses at all and we are putting tenders out for more diesel buses.

“How is this compatible with HaliFACT 2050? There is a disconnect happening and I have a lot of questions. If we don’t start now, when are we going to start.”

The Ecology Action Centre echoes the councillor’s questions.

"You can’t declare a climate emergency and then go buy 150 diesel buses." - Coun. Richard Zurawski

Kelsey Lane, a sustainable transportation co-ordinator for the environmental charity and watchdog group, said in a news release that the municipality and its transit provider are missing an opportunity.

“Though the initial changing infrastructure and capital costs are more with electric buses, the programs and funding opportunities offered by other levels of government make it an economically viable option for Halifax Transit, and offers savings over the long term,” Lane said.

Zurawski attached an approximate $600,000 price tag to a traditional diesel bus, whereas an electric bus would be roughly twice that price.

“There are costs and there are costs,” Zurawski said. “If you are looking at the total cost, there is no question that beginning the investment into alternative fuels like electricity or hydrogen will be more expensive.

“It’s cheaper to initially buy a diesel bus. But a diesel bus requires a whole lot more service in its lifetime than an electric bus does. An electric bus needs an infrastructure of charging which is not installed yet and we in the past haven’t made any effort to do so. This is the rationale for not getting electric buses.”

Zurawski said there is no such thing as clean diesel.

“It is an awful, awful fuel. The question is what are the needs and what are the total costs, long term versus short term. If we delay the purchase of electric buses, what is it going to cost us in 10 years from now, 20 years or 30 years from now because these buses will be in use for the next 15 years, maybe even 20 years and they represent a substantial (continued) investment? In other words, once you invest in them, then you have to have diesel garages, diesel parts, diesel mechanics and they require much more service.

“The electrical infrastructure will have so many offshoots for the city that will also mitigate costs – mitigate social costs, environmental costs, mitigate actual costs.”

A 2017 municipal staff report in support of a proposed pilot project for adding a pair of electric buses to the Halifax Transit fleet simulated outputs and costs. The simulated study identified savings of $127 million to $163 million over a 20-year period based on the operating and fuel costs for a fully electrified fleet.

Maggie-Jane Spray, a communications director with HRM, said Halifax Transit did not end up purchasing the two electric buses identified for a pilot, and the budget for the project was eliminated last year.

“Instead, Halifax Transit pursued a sustainable fuels study covering a wider variety of alternative propulsion technologies with an external consulting firm,” Spray said. “Staff are currently canvassing other similarly sized properties to assess what resources are required for a pilot.”

Lane said that over the course of one year alone, one electric bus saves approximately 62.56 tonnes of emissions compared with a diesel bus.

Zurawski said it’s time to fish or cut bait.

“We’ve been remiss as a council, this has slipped between the cracks,” Zurawski said. “We are so hyper-focused on keeping the tax rates down. There is lots to talk about in this and at the same time looking at the fact that the city is going to be expanding to the tune of roughly 10,000 people a year for the next decade, we have to be better at what we do. We can’t be doing the same thing over and over again.

“We’re in a crisis and things have to change very quickly.”

Related: HRM seeks supplier for up to 150 Halifax Transit buses over next three years