A total of $395.5 million has been put towards funding public transit in a joint federal and provincial investment.

A portion of that has been set aside to fund the electrification of public transit in certain parts of B.C., including adding more of the buses in Greater Victoria.

Part of the investment will go towards BC Transit purchasing 115 electric buses, along with supporting the design, installation and charging infrastructure B次元官网网址� with 134 new charging points B次元官网网址� needed for the new buses to operate across British Columbia.

B次元官网网址淭odayB次元官网网址檚 announcement is a game-changer for our communities and for our environment because carrying more battery-powered electric buses and charging infrastructure will provide clean public transit options and improve service access for British Columbians,B次元官网网址� said West Vancouver, Sunshine Coast, Sea to Sky Country MP Patrick Weiler at a news conference in Victoria on Wednesday (July 26).

Starting Thursday (July 27), some of the buses will be in service. The buses have a similar external and internal design to that of the standard BC Transit buses seen across the province. One of the only differences is the public can ride the buses with no charge during a trial period, as BC transit is looking to see how the public takes to the new electronic automobiles.

B次元官网网址淧art one of this is, weB次元官网网址檙e looking to put this bus into service and having the public ride it,B次元官网网址� said manager for BC Transit, Ryan Drake. B次元官网网址淲e received this demo bus last fall and then the last few months weB次元官网网址檝e been using it to familiarize our staff, look at our business processes, see how we transition to port electric buses in our fleet, and now as weB次元官网网址檝e gone through and driven basically every route in the Victoria district to know that we can run this bus successfully on those routes.B次元官网网址�

The buses that have driven from Sooke to Sidney are part of BC TransitB次元官网网址檚 Electrification Program in efforts to align with British ColumbiaB次元官网网址檚 CleanBC emission-reduction goals as well as BC TransitB次元官网网址檚 transition to an electric fleet by 2024.

B次元官网网址淭his represents the beginning of our electrification pathway,B次元官网网址� said Drake. B次元官网网址淪o this will be the first bus that will closely represent the production units that will be showing up this fall.B次元官网网址�

ALSO READ: