Inside Ottawa's next $1B transit project

Rows of charging stations line the high ceiling of OC Transpo's newly revamped bus garage, each with a glowing green light indicating they're ready for use. 

But Daniel Villeneuve, manager of the city's zero-emission bus program, said it's not a go quite yet.

"This requires a lot more planning," Villeneuve told CBC during a recent tour of the sprawling facility. "We don't want to have to come back in here in 15 years [and renovate again]."

When Ottawa embarked on this nearly $1-billion journey to make its fleet fully emission-free by 2036, the expectation was to have 182 electric buses by the end of last year, including dozens of longer 60-foot vehicles. 

Instead, the city has acquired just eight e-buses, and the higher-capacity models are now off the table. 

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Villeneuve said the process has been a marathon that sometimes requires the pacing of a sprint. 

"We've renovated our garage, we've added electrical infrastructure, but that's just the tip of the iceberg," he explained. "There's so much between now and the end of 2027 to complete our transition at St-Laurent for 350 buses."

Clad in an OC Transpo safety vest, Villeneuve lists some of the specific challenges the project has faced, from having to install new rolling doors to accommodate the taller buses, to experimenting with different charging technology that ultimately proved to be the wrong fit.

A new way to work

Villeneuve said the project creates new challenges for drivers to navigate, too. 

When an operator drops off a diesel bus, they can walk away without refueling it. The same driver dropping off an electric bus is personally responsible for making sure it's recharged.  

"That's an added layer there," said Villeneuve. "And then there's the training for the operators, training for our mechanics, and every position within the organization — garage attendants, tow trucks, on-street supervisors."

During the tour, an inexperienced driver steps off an e-bus he's just turned off — a no-no during the charging process. Once it's turned on again, the charger won't budge from its spot on the ceiling. 

"Can you get somebody to check 2115?" Villeneuve calls to one of his staff. "The operator just came back and it won't engage…. Yeah, he's lined it up properly." 

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The driver needs to get the bus into the sweet spot — between the two yellow lines, the door aligned with a separate green line — before the charger descends into place on top of rooftop rails. 

"We're going through a learning curve here," Villeneuve explained. 

Buses need midday recharge

Drivers will also have to get used to what's known in the industry as "range anxiety." The worry that a bus won't remain charged long enough can send drivers back to the garage prematurely.

"A diesel bus on a fuel tank could go out and do 500 kilometres. An electric bus … could do 200 to 250," Villeneuve explains to one bus operator, who confessed he still prefers to drive diesel. 

"You could do a lot longer on a diesel bus, but from an efficiency point of view electricity is a lot cheaper than diesel," Villeneuve says. 

OC Transpo schedules electric buses for each peak service period, with a midday charging break back at the garage. 

Drivers who are feeling range anxiety can get an update from the control room, which is also being overhauled with new monitoring software. 

More than a 'heart transplant'

The federal government's zero-emission transit fund gave a financial shot in the arm to cities waffling on the transition, and heaped work orders onto the nation's few e-bus manufacturers.

Initial delays of the rollout in Ottawa had nothing to do with the technology, said Villeneuve. Rather, it was the considerable time it takes to negotiate funding through an entirely new program.

On the manufacturing side, pandemic-era chaos in the supply chain continued to cause delays. Then there's the sheer complexity of building a system that requires not only new infrastructure, but also new software and ways of working. 

"The transit agencies have planned the shift. They've planned to rip up their depots and install all of this new energy system," said Josipa Petrunic, president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium.

"It's a massive overhaul. It's not just a heart transplant — it's like you've transplanted your head, your brain, you've lobotomized yourself, you've ripped out your organs and you get a blood transfusion.... Your whole body has changed."

Villeneuve said the city needs to adapt its plans as technology evolves. 

"It's also new to the industry. The bus manufacturers are learning, all the other transit agencies are learning, the component manufacturers, the batteries, traction motors," he said. "We're all learning together." 

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That said, there are more established programs to look up to. Ottawa decided early in the process to monitor and mirror some of the established best practices from the Toronto Transit Commission, owner of one of the continent's biggest electric fleets. 

Planning for the future 

When OC Transpo undertook the upgrade, Villeneuve said it was important to plan well into the future. 

"We don't want to come back in here for the next 15 years," he said. 

For example, it opted for infrastructure that would be a "space saver," since plug-ins require more room on the floor. Electricians also ensured the wiring throughout the facility is scalable of future upgrades.

Workers also added more sprinklers and made other upgrades to better contain a catastrophic "thermal event," when a battery overheats uncontrollably and fire spreads quickly. 

"We have the process in place to deal with that, but hopefully it never comes to that," Villeneuve said.  

More buses on the way

At the buidling on St-Laurent Boulevard, one bay is filled with a watery mist. Workers are diligently spraying off decades of black soot — a reminder of why the city is moving from diesel to electric. 

"Diesel buses are very inefficient. It's very efficient to get people in a bus and out of a car. That's what's better for the environment than anything," said Petrunic.

"But once you're on a bus, the diesel engine itself is not great for the environment … they're belching out pollution throughout the city." 

Ottawa isn't abandoning diesel altogether. The city recently set aside $75 million to purchase more vehicles for its non-electric fleet, in order to offset the electric bus delays and ease the strain on the hundreds of buses already at the end of their life. 

As for electric, four more New Flyer vehicles are being inspected, and a new batch from Nova Bus has already rolled off the production line. 

Villeneuve said he expects 22 more buses to be charged and ready to hit Ottawa's roads by the end of March.