The STM has announced that 100% of Montreal's buses will be electric by 2025. This will include trolley-buses and fast-charge buses. The STM has bought only diesel-powered and hybrid buses so far, but the authority is going to start testing the trolley buses in 2011. By 2012, all buses bought will be hybrids. This is a great initiative from the STM. Electricity in Quebec is cheap and clean. Public transit is already environmentally friendly. By making all buses electric, emissions from using public transit will near zero. Once again, the STM has looked for ways to be greener. I wish them the best of luck in this endeavour.
MONTREAL – Montreal's public transit system will be entirely electric by 2025, says the Société de transport de Montréal, making the city the first in North America to pledge to use only zero-emission - and zero-noise - vehicles.
The STM is currently waiting for a shipment of 380 new diesel buses, with a lifespan of about 15 years, said Carl Desrosiers, chief of operations for the STM. But these will be the last of their kind in Montreal.
In the meantime, the corporation will begin to introduce more efficient, and less polluting buses starting next year.
Read more at the
Montreal Gazette or
CBC.
Except that Hydro Quebec sells excess electricity to Vermont that uses coal and natural gas. So, as far as global warming is concerned, the benefit is 0.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the Montreal local air quality will improve (slightly).
Altavistgoogle, what's you're point? By selling hydroelectricity to a state that uses fossil fuels, we're helping Vermont cut down their emissions. If we didn't sell them our electricity, they would have to burn more to make up the difference.
ReplyDelete