Montreal

Electric bus pilot project to hit Montreal streets in 2015

Quebec will be investing $12-million in a pilot project aimed at putting electric buses on Montreal roads.

Marois government to invest $12M in Volvo group's Cité Mobile program

An electric bus made by Nova Bus sits at the plant in St-Eustache. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)

The Quebec government will be investing $12-million in a pilot project aimed at putting electric buses on Montreal streets.

The Cité Mobile project will allow the STM to buy three entirely electric buses that would use a recharging method conceived by Nova Bus.

In October, the Parti Québécois government announced that it would invest $516-million in the development of an electric vehicle industry in Quebec that will build electric cars, electric railways, and related infrastructure.

Premier Pauline Marois confirmed the $12-million investment on Friday morning.

The buses should hit the road as of 2015, for a three-year trial period.

According to the STM, the initiative is part of the City Of Montreal’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.

The bus routes affected and where the charging stations will be placed have not yet been determined.

The pilot project is in partnership with Nova Bus, an affiliate of the Volvo group. Montreal is the first North American city to participate in Volvo’s Cité Mobile program.

With files from CBC News