City looks to buy more than 50 new buses including hybrids to electrify Brampton Transit

Brampton wants to bring more electric buses to city streets and is looking for a company to provide more than 50 new transit vehicles.

The city’s bid opportunities webpage shows Brampton has opened bidding for the supply and delivery of 56 buses to Brampton Transit over the next year.

The request includes 15 diesel-powered articulated buses for ZUM routes, 20 conventional diesel-powered buses, and 20 hybrid diesel buses with funding coming from several sources including the federal government, the province and the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

Bidding opened on Monday and will run until July 19. The contract is for an initial one-year term with an option to renew for three additional years, and the slate of 56 buses is listed as an “initial order.”

Last month the city, the feds and the province announced a combined $17.4 million is being put toward the city’s transit electrification efforts, including funding for 15 made-in-Canada buses, new fare payment systems across the Brampton Transit network, and two new electric TransHelp buses.

Despite lower numbers in other cities, Brampton’s public transit system has seen a ridership spike of approximately 40 per cent since the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Brampton Transit accounts for around 70 per cent of all of the city’s GHG emissions, and the mayor and city council have set their sights on becoming Canada’s first city with a fully electric bus fleet. But a report to council earlier this year found that Brampton Transit needs a $9 billion overhaul by 2041 to decarbonize the entire motor pool.

In 2022, Brampton cut a deal with the CIB for $400 million to purchase 450 zero-emission buses over the next five years.

The city has said purchasing new eco-friendly buses is “a critical milestone” in Brampton’s push to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. Brampton has also received $1.1 million in federal funding for the development of a strategy and rollout plan for transitioning the city’s fleet to zero-emission buses.