Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 20, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba THURSDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2025 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM SECTION B CONNECT WITH WINNIPEG’S NO. 1 NEWS SOURCE ▼ CITY ● BUSINESS A FEW weeks after city coun- cil tapped the brakes on some future green bus expansion, Winnipeg Transit unveiled its first ze- ro-emission bus purchase Wednesday. Transit displayed a new 12-metre hydrogen fuel-cell battery-electric bus, the first of 16 zero-emission buses it expects by spring. All were ordered from Winnipeg bus manufac- turer NFI Group. “This is one of three fuel-cell buses, total, in Canada right now, so we’re cutting-edge … when it comes to technology for testing this out. We do have other zero-emission buses that’ll be arriving this year, which will in- clude the first (18-metre zero-emis- sion) buses in Canada. … So it’s very exciting for us to be back to being leaders in evaluating zero-emission technology,” said Erin Cooke, project manager for Transit’s transition to ze- ro-emission program. The arrival comes about a decade after Winnipeg first participated in a pilot project with four leased bat- tery-electric buses. It also comes less than a month after council approved its 2025 budget, which includes a de- cision to shift to diesel bus purchases in 2027. That switch will begin after a $280-million tri-government deal to replace dozens of buses with ze- ro-emission models wraps up. While the city’s budget listed 71 green bus purchases by the end of next year, Cooke said money allotted outside of that timeline will allow for a total of 90 buses to be added during the multi-government deal, including 70 that are battery-electric and 20 hydrogen fuel-cell battery-electric models. Transit initially set an ambitious target to switch its entire fleet from diesel to zero-emission models by 2045 but never secured enough fund- ing to complete the transition. Cooke said a returned focus on diesel in two years doesn’t rule out a broader target. “As long as we make choices, (around) the 2032 timeline … that target is still totally achievable,” she said. Winnipeg Transit currently has 632 buses in its fleet. Cooke noted Winnipeg tested four leased battery electric buses to sup- port a pilot project from 2015 to 2018, which initially allowed it to be a lead- er in the technology. However, price has posed a barrier to the city buying green buses ever since. Cooke said a 12-metre diesel bus now costs around $900,000, while the city will pay about $1.56 million for each electric bus of the same size and $1.9 million per fuel-cell version. Each green bus replacement is expected to eliminate about 60 to 80 tonnes of greenhouse-gas emissions per year. “This (first) bus (we bought) uses hydrogen. … It has a fuel cell that con- verts hydrogen into water vapour and electricity. So the electricity is used to charge batteries as the bus drives (and) the only emissions from this bus are water vapour coming out of the tailpipe,” said Cooke. The new bus was displayed outdoors during frigid temperatures on Wed- nesday. While winter-climate per- formance will be further assessed, Cooke said electric buses performed well when the city tested them during the pilot project. And since that testing took place, thousands of electric buses are now operating in cities across Canada, she noted. Winnipeg Transit’s initial round of zero-emission buses will include four 12-metre and four 18-metre fuel-cell battery-electric buses, as well as four 12-metre and four 18-metre bat- tery-electric buses. Additional buses are expected to start arriving in early 2026. Transit says its first zero-emission buses will be on city roads for testing “as early as mid-March” and start providing limited service in April. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca X: @joyanne_pursaga Hydrogen, batteries: Winnipeg Transit shows off latest no-emissions bus JOYANNE PURSAGA PHOTOS BY MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Erin Cooke, project manager for Winnipeg Transit’s Transition to Zero Emission Bus program speaks to media Wednesday in front of its first zero-emission fuel-cell battery-electric bus. Zeroing in … on zero The bus was the first of 16 zero-emission buses Transit expects by spring. Each green bus is expected to eliminate about 60 to 80 tonnes of greenhouse-gas emissions per year. ● LAND, CONTINUED ON B2 LRSD set to bid on rural property development Potential land-based learning site scoped out MAGGIE MACINTOSH ST. VITAL’s school board is eyeing a plot of land south of the Perimeter Highway to develop a land-based learn- ing site and house its maintenance, operations and transportation facilities. Senior administrators in the Louis Riel School Division received author- ization to bid on a rural property and seek government approval to borrow up to $10 million for related construction Tuesday. Superintendent Christian Michalik was reluctant to disclose the exact ad- dress, citing early negotiations with the owner of an eight-acre lot that he said is ideal because of its location within LRSD borders, multiple turn-key build- ings and affordable price. A public listing of 3280 St. Mary’s Rd., currently home to Veert Landscap- ing, fits that description. The site spans 8.2 acres and features three industrial buildings. It is listed for $2.95 million. If all goes according to plan, Michal- ik said LRSD will join a growing list of local school divisions operating field trip sites that foster environmental stewardship and Indigenous ways of learning. “A significant portion of the land would be used to create a space for Indigenous land-based education; the idea would be to reclaim the land that is there as an Indigenous environment, as a Prairie environment, restoring it to its natural state,” the division leader said. Michalik noted he was inspired by the Seven Oaks School Division’s land- based learning model and plans to get pointers from colleagues at the Aki Centre. Seven Oaks opened the centre in West St. Paul, where students and other visitors participate in medicine-pick- ing, storytelling and restoration work to return the over-farmed plot to its tallgrass prairie and wetland origins, in 2019. “When thinking of the most urgent, pressing issues as a society — the cli- mate, our relationship to the natural world — it’s self-evident to me that learning on the land, from the land is essential,” Michalik said, adding that should be at the heart of science and social studies lessons. For him, this purchase is also an opportunity to build a restorative and therapeutic space for students. Com- munity members typically travel to Birds Hill Provincial Park to learn about local ecosystems and participate in cultural education via LRSD. LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES LRSD superintendent Christian Michalik envisions restoration of the land for students. ;