The Town of Oakville is making their vision to be the most liveable town in Canada a reality by becoming one of the first municipalities to transition their entire fleet of transit buses, comprising of over 100 vehicles, to zero emission battery electric power. The Town of Oakville engaged Wood to assist on their fleet electrification journey to help achieve their netzero emission goals.
Mobility throughout cities and towns is essential to the wellbeing of communities, especially in populated areas such as Oakville, Ontario, located in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Canada.
Residents of Oakville are increasingly using public transit to access employment, education and services across the GTA as owning, maintaining and even using a car is becoming more difficult with increasing fuel and maintenance costs, and increasing traffic congestion making the daily commute long and slow moving.
Oakville Transit provides public transit service with a fleet of over 100 buses. The Town has ambitious goals to improve the quality of life of their residents and reduce carbon emissions with a detailed 30-year roadmap. Through collaboration, Oakville Transit and Wood identified the required capital and a transition plan to electrify Oakville Transit’s bus garage and terminals. An assessment of the current state of the fleet and existing power supply was reviewed to establish a greenhouse gas (GHG) emission baseline.
Using Wood’s proprietary tool ZeroEmissionSimTM, a cloud-based software using historical data and machine learning to simulate and model multiple scenarios, Wood determined electrification objectives and route planning based on charging infrastructure, fleet models and technology. A capital and operational expenditure report was generated outlining a transition and investment strategy for fleet, infrastructure, maintenance and training costs spanning the next 30 years.
A comparative analysis of available vehicles and charging systems was conducted that considered cold Canadian winters, and factor in the phased retirement of the current Oakville diesel fleet based on asset years of life remaining. Considerations for Electric Vehicle maintenance, staff training and tool upgrades, and battery replacement plans were also outlined.
Oakville Transit obtained funding from the Canadian federal government’s Canadian Infrastructure Program, which provides long-term funding to a variety of green infrastructure programs across Canada.
In addition to Oakville Transit, the project team consulted with the Town of Oakville and utility providers for full collaboration of transit operations. This collaborative approach led the project to be completed on schedule and budget, satisfying all stakeholders involved.
The next phase of the project includes implementing initial procurement of infrastructure equipment and power sources.