Twelve Saskatoon residents submitted their concerns to City Council on Wednesday urging members not to listen to a recent report on the feasibility of an all-electric bus fleet.
At a recent Transportation Committee meeting, administration delivered a report from the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium. It suggested that Saskatoon implement diesel buses instead of electric, as an electric fleet would show only 10 per cent more GHG reductions while also requiring substantial financial investments.
One concerned resident, Caylin Lee, says the CUTRIC report doesn’t provide evidence, only assumptions.
“Does the report show us these inputs and assumptions? No. It frequently makes claims without explanation or justification. Such as, on page 26, where it claims that maintenance costs twice as much for zero-emission buses. Just because a model can give you an answer, doesn’t mean it’s accurately representing the real world.”
President and CEO of CUTRIC Josipa Petrunic explains that the ‘work’ was included in an extensive several-hundred-page document that was shared with administration, and the data came from private industry, the public sector, and energy regulators. She added that on top of being costly and sometimes unreliable, ZEB’s, or zero-emission buses, are also more vulnerable to tariff costs.
“The Canada-U.S. tariff war essentially and the tariff disputes underway have already caused price increases in these vehicle platforms. Not just zero-emissions buses, but also diesel and hybrid. Because of the exposure to Asian markets and an international apply chain of zero-emissions buses…the price point is likely to go up faster for ZEBs than it is for diesel and hybrids.”
Petrunic also suggested that CUTRIC host a webinar for skeptical Saskatoon citizens to clear up any misunderstandings about the report.
Council approved administration’s recommendation to accept CUTRIC’s report unanimously, which will kick start the move towards a diesel fleet and a review of the situation within three to five years.
