Quebec supports the electrification of the exo bus fleet

Transportation Minister François Bonnardel made the announcement at Trajectoire Québec’s annual benefit luncheon on Monday in Montreal.

The public transportation organization that primarily serves Montreal’s suburbs, north and south, plans to replace its existing buses, owned by private carriers, with fully electric vehicles.

As Minister Bonnardel pointed out on Monday, the private sector’s share in exo activities making it very difficult to electrify its buses, as it will require the private sector to invest large sums of billing in infrastructure and electric buses..

Thanks to exobus programexo will own the bus fleet and its garages, a change that is already underway and will take place in a few years.

Phase 1, which will end in 2027, will cost up to $ 330.8 million. Details of funding this amount and the share that should come from the federal government have not yet been established, but Minister Bonnardel promised that most of these funds will be provided by the provincial government.

The deployment of the exobus program represents a major step forward for exo in terms of improving its services, in a context where the northern and southern crowns of the Montreal region are in full expansionsaid Sylvain Yelle, CEO of exo.

So, in five years, we aim to get more than 135 electric buses and, in 20 years, exo wants to own the entire fleet of buses, which could reach 1,000 electric vehicles.said Sylvain Yelle, who thanked the provincial government.

A financial framework for public transport

François Bonnardel also announced that he will establish a financial framework that will cover a period of five years, from 2023 to 2028, for public transport funding.

The government is well aware that public transport needs continued supportsaid the minister.

In doing so, we want to respond to a request from the municipal sector and offer more predictability, especially in the context where the pandemic has severely disrupted this sector and where it is important to bring back users.He added.

Sarah V. Doyon, director of Trajectoire Québec, an organization that campaigns for citizens ’rights in terms of public transportation throughout Quebec, called the announcement good news.

We will have to look for new sources of funding, but we are satisfied that, finally, there is a desire to work with it.explained by Ms. There, repeating a request from his organization, and a few others, who have long been asking the 50-50 rebalancing of investments in road transportation and public transport.

In the final provincial budget, public transport got 30% of the amounts invested in transportation compared to 70% for road transportation.