Saskatoon pivots after federal funding for electric buses denied
Brody Langager of Saskatoon StarPhoenix
The City of Saskatoon is considering new diesel buses after its application for federal funds to help convert its public transit fleet to zero-emission buses was denied last fall.
A report on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting of city council’s transportation committee says the failed application was integral to the current renewal strategy. A new strategy is expected in the second quarter of 2025, but a decision needs to be made now so that new buses can arrive before the 2026-27 winter season, the report says.
The failed application was made to the Zero Emission Transit Fund (ZETF), which is meant to provide financial support for transit agencies to convert their fleets to zero-emission buses by covering 50 per cent of the purchase costs.
City council made the federal money part of city’s 2024-25 multi-year business plan in 2023, even though it was not secured at the time. That money — as much as $23.5 million — would have covered half the cost to buy 30 electric buses in 2024 and 2025.
The city later adjusted its application and reduced the number of buses to 24 after learning $7.3 million would be needed for battery charging infrastructure to support up to 30 electric buses.
The entire funding component was later removed from the city’s business plan.
Buses, some of which are already in service, have been purchased in the meantime with the help of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, which gave the city $60 million.
“Factoring in the 20 buses expected to be delivered by the fall/winter of 2025, the average fixed route transit fleet age at the end of 2025 will be approximately 8.6 years (industry standard of 7.5 years) with the maximum bus age at 18 years and 22 buses in the fleet beyond the service life of 15 years,” the report states.
About $15 million of the federal infrastructure money is left, waiting for approval in the next business plan and budget deliberations.
The city administration says more electric buses will be needed if the city continues to transition, noting that the battery charge for an electric bus doesn’t last for an entire day of service and that roughly 1.2 electric buses are needed to replace every one diesel bus to maintain the same service levels.
The report says half of the gas-powered buses in the Access Transit fleet are considered to be in very poor condition, and 11 of the 27 buses are expected to retire at the same time. The average age of the fleet in 2023 was 5.8 years. The administration says five new buses are needed per year if the city aims to meet the industry standard average age of three years.
Reserve funding and provincial money have been used to pay for these buses in the past, but the report says that doesn’t cover the cost of five new buses per year.
According to the report, Access Transit buses have more than doubled in price, from $115,000 in 2018 to $271,300 in 2025.
City staff recommend using the $23.5 million in city funds that would have been spent on buses before the ZETF application was denied, in order to maximize the number of buses the city can buy. This would include 17 40-foot diesel buses, four 60-foot diesel buses and three Access Transit buses.