Edmonton, St Albert, Winnipeg, Toronto, Saskatoon, Regina – there is no catastrophically stupid, taxpayer-abusing transit failure that a Canadian city council will not strive to emulate.
Regina would go on to announce its own plan to electrify the fleet despite these problems. On a public FAQ page, it dismissed fears of an Edmonton-like incident. Edmonton purchased its buses from Proterra; Regina was going with the company Novabus, which “has a long history of success in Canadian cities.”
And so, the Regina transit began using electric buses in 2025 as part of a bigger greenhouse gas reduction strategy, starting with seven. Another 13 are planned for delivery by mid-2026. So, when Singh reports that four of these buses needed to be pulled from the middle of their routes to charge, he’s talking about more than half of the electric fleet. […]
And over in Saskatoon, city council has been trying to grow the electric fleet. It’s unclear why: city staff have warned that electric buses can’t last a full day of service on one charge, and that it takes 1.2 electric buses to replace a single diesel bus.
I guess that’s what happens three out of four voters sit on their ass and let the unions choose their city council.
Related: Toronto’s newest transit line debuted on Dec. 7 to brutally bad reviews…
Same with the turnout here in my city located in a red state. We have a hard left city council and mayor, Also the Republicans had made some deal where they would not run candidates for city council. It is in theory non-partisan which means that on the ballot no party is listed and also means that Candidates actually lie to people when campaigning as to what party they are from.
We have electric bus madness too. So far no fires. Oh and we have “free” bus rides again in the downtown. Each ticket sold for our bus system is subsidized 95%!!!!
FILTHY LIBERALS
WAIT UNTIL YOU SIGN UP FOR A NUCLEAR REACTOR.
You will be subjected to OPG which is like working for the UN Grievance Department.
Gay Sex Flags fly at every Plant.
Gay Sidewalk when you walk in.
Every FILTHY LIBERAL Policy resides there, Climate Change, Gaztard Propaganda, Prayer rooms so the Depraved KORANDERTHALS can tell their Pedo, Mo about OPG’s Web Page on LGBTQ++
I HAVE LGPTSD.
Help yourself to Happiness, burn Coal and Oil.
FILTHY LIBERALS
Assault with battery and no charge.
Clever electrons you have 🙂
They keep me on my toes.
Canadian city councils making bad investment decisions with taxpayer money is as reliable as the sun coming up in the morning. Each bad decision is “fixed” with higher property taxes, increased fees and worse public services (ex. Less snow removal). The Pay more, Get less city management model.
There’s another affect that is rarely mentioned – unreliable electric buses that are suddenly removed from service due to recharging issues leave people stranded. Imagine standing outside in -30C temperature waiting for a bus that doesn’t arrive. The city transit app doesn’t relay this service interruption and the passenger standing out in the freezing cold is left wondering how they’re going to get home. University students I know say that buses not showing up is a regular occurrence in Saskatoon. It’s important not to forget the human cost as well as the economic cost from incredibly bad, and sometimes downright dangerous, decision making by municipal governments
You can bet city council members and city managers are getting filthy rich off the kickbacks.
Finding a truly honest politician is about as rare as seeing a unicorn.
I gave up on transit with diesel buses because of crappy service. Better to walk, you’re on schedule. 3.5 km one way.
…and crime on buses is rising. The people who are trying to convince you to take public transportation never bother to improve the service or safety on public transportation. Virtue signaling, being control freaks and profiteering are their only goals.
Ideology is a powerful thing in the minds of the silly. Unfortunately, there are a lot of silly in the corridors of power.
Calling them silly is a rather kind, just leave it at that.
There is no help to the ideologically affected. It does not even border at death. Those affected will take it to their grave.
The chief ideologues know that, they even know that the ideology is false, though they will apply it to save themselves. There is no way out, only some kind of tragedy will perhaps awaken the afflicted.
So then you have the ideology of AGW. Today it is so instilled in the afflicted that they could not possibly listen to reason.
The electric bus is a good idea, the problem of course that with today’s technology it does not work, specially in -20 degrees of Celsius. To the ideologically afflicted, this does not pose a problem because they operate on air. The airy explanations without any logical thought is plain bad, though to them it is the only way and they, somehow acquired power to do damage in the name of ‘caring’ or something.
As mentioned above, they were voted in by the masses
Who you gonna call?
Perhaps the Russian government can set up a foreign aid program to help us third world Canadians. Moscow has had a massive electric bus fleet for years. I have ridden them many times. They work very well and are warm and comfortable in the coldest weather. Poyekaly! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bPMT7qbhvyg&pp=ygUVTW9zY293IGVsZWN0cmljIGJ1c2Vz
Discarding the EV bus idea and returning to internal combustion engines is, by far, the most obvious, economical and effective solution.
The air quality in Moscow has also markedly improved over the years as the diesel buses have been replaced by electrics.
Poor air quality from exhaust is not a problem in Saskatoon.
So far, so good.
What’s the rest of the story?
Charging the bus in few minutes, are you kidding me?
Do you know how electricity behaves?
How does it work in the famous cold russian winter.
One suspect there is more to the story.
Come visit Moscow and you will experience the best public transport system in the world. The “more to the story” is competent, energetic people who are proud of their work and no wokeness and DEI anywhere.
Yes Canadians, you should go! It will feel just like home!
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/education/news/russia-visa-surge-why-1-million-indians-are-choosing-moscow-over-london-and-new-york/articleshow/123559460.cms
Actually, you can’t charge batteries in a few minutes. That’s a lie.
Are you a propagandist? You seem to be enamored by wokness and DEI ideologies. Why have you mentioned them, what’s the connection?
One suspect that you are pushing a story of ideology without solid evidence.
Because one does not go to Moscow, that does not mean that there are no unanswered questions of physics. It is obvious that there is no argument.
Anyway, this is the end of the story.
I’m sure the Chinese would be very happy if Canada was to sign on to the Russian electric bus fleet, seeing as how most of the components are Chinese, which is already the case in Canada.
Is there any advanced technology that doesn’t include some Chinese components?
Probably not, but I just can’t help but give people a little good natured ribbing from time to time. It’s good for everybody’s souls.
I’ve seen more impressive good-natured ribbing on socks.
Just like the USA?
I would be shocked if ‘only’ 1.2 electrics were needed to replace a diesel. That would imply an electric can run for at least 16 hours without a charge?
What makes anyone think the results would have been any different if everyone voted, or different parties were elected?
The old Russian electric bus routine just diverts the story. Let’s stick to Saskatoon. Why do they need new buses anyway? I never thought Saskatoon was flush with cash (doesn’t look like it and I’ve been there many times). If the diesel buses are working then spend the money on something else. Like how about improving the roads?
“If the diesel buses are working then spend the money on something else?”
Cough, cough *kickbacks* cough cough.
Yes, perfectly usable machines like diesel buses and installations like coal-fired power plants are scrapped or mothballed, entailing a certain unnecessary cost, just to spend more money on different technologies that never even come close to delivering what the replaced technology does.
Because how else can some pockets be lined off the taxpayer’s dime? And yes, your roads would have been a better investment, but again: some pockets are more equal than others.
To the day I die I will be ranting about Edmonton City Politburo which ripped out electric trolley lines that worked for 100 years and a few years later spent $60 million on battery powered buses which have pretty much remained parked since they were purchased. If you want electric in 30 below, overhead electric lines run flawlessly. Batteries are pure horse shit.
A large section of SF has been without power … for DAYS! Tens of thousands of residents and businesses have had to dispose of all their food. BART ceased operating trains under the bay. Muni was frozen in its tracks.
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/san-francisco-power-outage-21254452.php
If they’d only had battery driven transit! Oh wait … but PG&E wouldn’t have been able to recharge their busses. Oh, and homeowners with solar and Tesla batteries? Yeah … you only get a few hours out of those $$$ batteries.
Behold your “electrified” Net Zero future.
You would think that by this point the peasants would start demanding a little better treatment. Maybe soon perhaps.
(for the record, I’m probably what the peasants would look down upon in pity…maybe that’s the reason: they’re afraid of falling even lower and losing more of their stuff…while they are starting to lose anything they’ve ever accumulated, first slowly, now more rapidly)
This is an article from September … but since then BART outages have gotten even worse and more frequent. We are paying outrageously high, unfunded, pensions over 6-figures to train “operators” whose only job is to open and close the train doors. The entire system is BROKE and cannot maintain its “modern” infrastructure.
https://www.kqed.org/news/12054754/bart-outage-shuts-down-entire-system-for-2nd-time-in-months
So the politicians STILL scold everyone to “get out of their cars” and ride mass transit. A UNION out-of-controlled mass mess of a transit system. The stranded passengers interviewed on the street have been none too happy. Yet, as Kate laments … 3 out of 4 can’t be bothered to vote OUT the fools we’ve put in control of essential systems. I’m not certain that anyone (at least here in CA) are waking up anytime soon.
Well, to be fair to Californians, I have seen what your local media feeds you on the daily. Same thing is happening in other blue states. Plus, with the decades worth of cheating (yes, illegals factor into that greatly — they were a great distraction as well as drain, weren’t they?), a certain nihilism does start to set in, or maybe it’s de-nialism: that works too.
Don’t forget about the factor I mentioned: people haven’t lost enough…yet. But it’s probably coming.
“de-nihilism”
U-Jane … seriously … you’re the BEST! You know this place like you live here … ugggh.
In their minds, living without power puts some Californians closer to God.
Vancouver installed electric trolley buses over 75 years ago. Still going strong on most of the urban routes. I sure hope they don’t switch them to EV buses. Although you can’t disregard the stupid factor.
Edmonton killed their last electric trolley buses in 2009 long after fake global warming was considered doctrine. They could have spent the $60 million expanding the system instead of parked electric buses.
Those who can’t do govern.
I believe I read last week of a city that was under contract to purchase buses of this type for over $2,000,000 each. It is amazing that anyone would pay that much for something that doesn’t work. Also amazing that none of these cities appear to have invoked a contract that made payment subject to demonstration of appropriate and suitable performance of (at least) the first units purchased, if not all of them.