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The city’s transit agency can’t blame harsh winters or its supplier for the poor fuel economy of its hybrid buses, because other Montreal-area transit agencies save far more fuel using the same buses.

Société de transport de Montréal documents have revealed that the agency’s diesel-electric hybrid buses don’t deliver the promised fuel savings of 30 per cent compared with conventional diesel buses. Instead, the actual savings is between 11 and 15 per cent. However, with the same buses and the same climate, transit agencies in Laval, Longueuil and the Outaouais are able to achieve far greater fuel economy.

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STM figures show that its newest Series 7 hybrid buses consume 47.5 litres to travel 100 kilometres on average for a year, compared with its most efficient diesel buses that consumed 53.5 L/100 km — an 11.2-per-cent savings.

Figures obtained from Longueuil show its hybrid buses consume 37.8 L/ 100 km, compared with its conventional diesel buses that consume 49.1 L/100 km — a savings of 23 per cent.