PHOTOS: First phase of new Brampton Transit facility will cost over $282M as city moves towards all-electric fleet

Crews have broken ground on what will be the city’s new transit hub with plans for electrification infrastructure that could help Brampton reach its goal of becoming the first major Canadian city with an entirely electrified bus fleet.

The new facility will be located at Highway 50 and Cadetta Road, and is named in honour of Cadetta Johnston and the Johnston family who still have a family farm on the lands south of the property.

With room for around 250 buses in the first phase, the 460,000 square foot facility will increase the city’s public transit capacity and is being designed with the future of Brampton Transit in mind as the city looks to expand its electrified transit options.

And while the overall plan was crafted “to accommodate future electrification,” more funds are needed before the city can reach that goal.

The money for phase one comes from a combined $128.1 million from the federal and provincial governments and another $154.8 million in city funding.

“Brampton continues to advocate for full electrification of the facility, a key initiative in the city’s broader environmental goals,” the city said in a release.

The city has not said how much the electric infrastructure at the new facility would cost, but one expert told council earlier this year it could cost upwards of $9 billion to decarbonize the entire Brampton Transit fleet.

A ground-breaking ceremony was held on Friday in Brampton attended by Mayor Patrick Brown and members of City Council, along with local MPs and MPPs among others.

Brampton announced in 2023 the city had set sights on becoming Canada’s first city with a fully zero-carbon bus fleet – a transition expected to cut some 115 tonnes of CO2 emissions per bus every year, or the equivalent of removing approximately 12,000 cars from Brampton roads annually.

Recent zero-carbon transit projects in Brampton include several new electric buses, specialty vehicles and charging stations thanks to a funding boost of over $12 million from Ottawa and Queen’s Park, and a push to buy more than 50 new buses including hybrids.

Unlike many Canadian cities where public transit ridership saw big drops following and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Brampton Transit use has seen an approximately 40 per cent spike.

Brampton Transit accounts for around 70 per cent of all of the city’s GHG emissions, and the new Cadetta Johnston Transit Facility was designed with approximately 80 per cent emissions reduction from based building code level design.

In phase two, the city says the Cadetta Johnston Transit Facility will have room for another 188 buses. Construction is anticipated to last until 2027.