Comments on: Edmonton Transit System Adds Hybrid Buses to the Fleet

By: Adam Snider

Adam Snider — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:07:04 +0000

Cool. I see you’re following me. I’m trying to follow your Twitter stream in return, but Twitter seems to be bugging out…again.

By: Mack D. Male

Mack D. Male — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:41:54 +0000

I’ve subscribed to yours too…found you via Twitter!

By: Adam Snider

Adam Snider — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:16:34 +0000

Thanks for the extra info, Mack. Good to see a fellow Edmonton blogger. I’ll have to keep an eye on your blog…your feed is now in my Google Reader.

By: Mack D. Male

Mack D. Male — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 03:45:48 +0000

Some more information for you from my post on the 2007 ETS Community Conference: http://blog.mastermaq.ca/archive/2007/03/10/6864.aspx

“ETS has ordered six hybrid buses, two of which are already in service. Each one costs around $700,000.”

By: Adam Snider

Adam Snider — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 18:25:18 +0000

Ah, okay. That makes sense. I guess only a fool would have designed things “my way.” Thanks for the info, Lorna.

By: Lorna

Lorna — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 20:29:08 +0000

“Plus, if the power goes out at a point on the grid that is connected to the trolley lines, the buses stop moving (unless they’re on a separate grid).”

They are. But even if power goes out to one part of the trolley grid, the new bus has batteries that usually have enough power to get to an energized part.

By: Adam Snider

Adam Snider — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 17:45:01 +0000

I haven’t actually seen the new trolley, no. In fact, I wasn’t even aware of it until I read about it on the ETS website.

Continuing to use trolley buses—and bringing in new ones—is certainly a positive move. I’d actually like to see the trolley system expanded, however, the infrastructure necessary would probably be insanely expensive. Plus, if the power goes out at a point on the grid that is connected to the trolley lines, the buses stop moving (unless they’re on a separate grid).

Now, if we had fully electric buses, that didn’t require being connected to the trolley lines for power (i.e.: plug them in at the bus barns at the end of the day for recharging), that would be great. Of course, until the day that Big Oil stops killing the electric car, that’s probably not going to happen.

By: allan

allan — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 17:34:56 +0000

I was going to say, until I read your footnote, that the hybrids had been around for a while.

Did you notice the brand new electric bus though? K. and I were sitting on the *other* Ave (Jasper) and saw a brand new trolley bus drive past. I was under the impression that trolley buses were on the way out. If you want to cut down on tail-pipe emissions, not having a tail pipe is certainly a start.