TransLink commits to net-zero emissions by 2050 in new climate action plan

Metro Vancouver’s transit and transportation network has committed to eliminating its climate-polluting greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

In a new climate action plan released Thursday, TransLink said it aims to achieve net-zero emissions from its bus fleet by 2040, and a reduction of 45 per cent over 2010 levels by 2030.

The targets apply to its entire fleet, which includes more than 2,000 transit vehicles and 400 service vehicles, along with operations at more than 200 facilities, such as stations, terminals and administrative offices.

“The climate emergency is one of the most difficult challenges in human history, and we are seeing the devastating impacts of extreme weather in our region first-hand,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn in a news release.

“Businesses and individuals have a collective responsibility to do everything we can to address the climate emergency.”

TransLink plans to equip 100 per cent of its bus fleet with air conditioning in the next five years, and use renewable natural gas in its compressed natural gas fleet in two years.

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It also wants to put more than 400 new battery-electric buses on the road within eight years and the first fully-electric SeaBus in the water in that same timeframe.

It aims to build a new transit centre in the Marpole area of Vancouver that runs exclusively on electric buses by 2027.

According to its plan, TransLink’s operations emitted 130,342 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020.

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Transportation is the province’s largest source of climate change-causing pollution, and in an emailed statement, Clean Energy Canada president Merran Smith said electrifying transit is a critical solution.

“TransLink has a head start, as Metro Vancouver is already home to one of North America’s largest electric trolleybus fleets and an electrified SkyTrain system,” she wrote.

“While TransLink’s new climate plan is a commendable step in the right direction, I’d also like to see them move more quickly on buying only fully electric buses.”

Ottawa, she noted, plans to have its entire fleet converted to electric buses by 2036 — four years ahead of TransLink.