The federal government will be spending $349 million to help the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) electrify its fleet of buses.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland made the announcement at a press conference in North York on Monday.
“We need to bring TTC buses into the 21st century so that everyone in Toronto can enjoy a cleaner, more sustainable city and transit system,” Freeland said.
The deputy prime minister said the money, along with funds from the City of Toronto, will be used to purchase 340 zero emission buses and well as 248 chargers.
“This investment will also support upgrades to related infrastructure in bus garages, including site upgrades, equipment, procurement and charger installations,” Freeland said. “This investment will help the TTC achieve its goal of electrifying its entire fleet by 2040 and will further reduce the city’s emissions for years into the future.”
Toronto’s deputy mayor Jennifer McKelvie called the announcement “great news” adding that it will help create a “cleaner and greener” TTC fleet.
“I want to reiterate how big this announcement is for our TTC, and for Toronto’s environmental efforts,” McKelvie said.
McKelvie said the city’s budget included $358 million for the city’s contribution to the vehicles.
“This is a $700 million announcement in joint funding to buy 340 New zero emission buses, and the chargers and infrastructure that will keep them running. It shows we’re doing everything we can as a city government to green our transit fleet, and our transit fleet is a huge part of our overall city fleet.”
McKelvie said the investment demonstrates “the positive steps forward we can make for our residents, for our cities and for our environment when our governments work together.”
The deputy mayor said the investments will help the city achieve its target of net zero emissions by 2040.
McKelvie said the city’s budget also includes $2 billion worth of projects “across all departments and divisions that reduce our emissions and improve climate resiliency.”
“Switching to zero emission vehicles is a key part of Toronto’s transition to a sustainable, climate resilient, netzero future,” she said. “I want to thank the partner agencies like the TTC for helping us scale up environmentally friendly ways to travel around Toronto.”
McKelvie said the new buses will “ensure Toronto can once again boast the largest e-bus fleet in North America.”
She said officials “know we have more work to do when it comes to confronting climate change.”
Fortunato Monaco, the chief-operations and infrastructure officer at the Toronto Transit Commission, said the money will “help us move forward with one of the most important areas of our business — which is innovating for the long term and ensuring the TTC remains the sustainable transit solution into the future.”