Natural Resources Canada's (NRCan) Green Infrastructure Program (GIP) will provide nearly C$957,000 (US$718,134) to Newmarket-Tay Power Distribution Ltd. to demonstrate a fully interoperable, high-power overhead, on-route bus charger.
NRCan explains the overhead charger will help the York Region Transit Corporation phase out diesel buses and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. In April 2018, the provincial government provided funding for the York Region to purchase six, 40-foot electric buses. The buses are expected to begin service in 2019 as part of a two-year electric bus trial in Newmarket.
“Today’s announcement builds on York Region’s investment of almost C$8 million (US$6 million) in electric bus technology and moves us closer to York Regional Council’s commitment to producing zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2051. This innovative project clearly demonstrates the impact that is made when different levels of government and industry experts work together to improve the way we provide transit to travelers in York Region,” said York Region Chairman and CEO Wayne Emmerson.
Newmarket-Tay Power is the leading utility in the Pan-Canadian Electric Bus Demonstration and Integration Trial: Phase I, which is led by the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC). Phase 1 of the trial launched at TransLink in Vancouver in April 2018 as part of a national initiative to advance zero emissions transit technology across Canada. CUTRIC explains that the project has brought together an innovative consortium of utilities, manufacturers, transit agencies, cities, funding partners and research teams to expand Canada's capacity for globally innovative zero-carbon electric vehicle technologies.
CUTRIC also notes that the funding provided to Newmarket-Tay Power Distribution is the first time in North America that a local utility is owning and operating an on-route charging system for a public transit agency.
"Newmarket is a global leader in utility-led ownership and operation of high-power charging systems on behalf of a public transit agency. This has never happened in Canada or anywhere else in North America,” said CUTRIC CEO Josipa Petrunic. “Utilities across the continent are watching to see how Newmarket-Tay Power Distribution Ltd. has been able to achieve this impressive financial and technical feat in the transit electrification world."
The charging system is designed to the OppCharge Protocol to ensure that it is interoperable with multiple makes and models of electric buses in the future. Siemens will provide the on-route charger, which will allow e-buses to stay in service indefinitely throughout the day by charging up in intervals of a few minutes each time the bus stops at the end point of its route. The on-route charger will also demonstrate the performance of the overhead electric bus charging system and enable future mass deployments.
CUTRIC will work with the utility to collect real-time data from the charger and up to six electric buses that plug into it over the next three years as part of a Canada-wide Electric Bus Big Data Trust, which CUTRIC is developing with municipal partners for launch in 2020. The trust will allow transit agencies and cities to log into a cloud platform and view how e-chargers and e-buses operate in any given Canadian city at any point in time. It will allow publicly owned utilities to do the same.
