New hybrid-electric TTC buses begin arriving to replace diesel models

The first of an order of hundreds of hybrid-electric buses have begun to arrive in Toronto.

The Toronto Transit Commission said on Wednesday the first buses from its order of 336 had begun to be delivered.

The new buses are part of a long-term plan to phase out the city’s diesel-fueled vehicles, replacing them with hybrid and eventually electric alternatives as they reach the end of their useful life.

The new hybrid buses are larger than the diesel buses they’re replacing, measuring 68 feet in length, well over the older 40-foot diesel models.

The new buses will be based out of the TTC’s Mount Dennis and Wilson divisions. They will serve routes in midtown, downtown, North York and Etobicoke, the TTC said.

“Hybrid-electric buses offer residents and visitors a clean, quiet, and healthy alternative to travel around our city,” Toronto Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie said in a statement.

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Rick Leary, the TTC’s CEO, said that while electric buses continue to develop, the city would use hybrids.

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