Office of the Chief Executive

In celebration of Earth Day this year, the TTC made two significant announcements this week.

This month, the TTC received the first of 336 additional hybrid-electric buses. These new buses help the TTC move toward a completely zero-emissions fleet. The buses will being entering service in May after undergoing inspection and testing. This process will be ongoing as buses continue to arrive through to early next year.

All of these vehicles will replace existing buses that have reached the end of their useful life. The 68, 18.3-metre (60-foot) hybrid-electric buses will replace older 12-metre (40-foot) buses, adding significant capacity to the fleet and reducing travel times. These buses will be based out of Mount Dennis and Wilson divisions and will serve routes in midtown, downtown, North York and Etobicoke.

Today (April 21), Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelive unveiled 10 newly commissioned, battery-electric bus (eBus) charging pantographs at Birchmount Garage. These are part of a pilot project to expand the TTC’s charging capacity. The new pantographs will support overhead charging, allowing electricity to be delivered from a centralized power source to chargers mounted on top of the eBuses.

This innovative transit charging system represents the first phase of a 20-year agreement between the TTC and Ontario Power Generation subsidiary, PowerON. Under the agreement, PowerON designs, builds, co-invests in, and operates charging as well as related infrastructure to electrify the TTC’s bus fleet and facilities. This initial Birchmount pilot is funded by the City of Toronto. The TTC will use the system to gather and evaluate reliability and operations data prior to broader deployment.

The TTC has committed to transition our bus fleet to be 50-per-cent zero emissions by 2028-2032 and our entire bus fleet to 100-per-cent zero emissions technology by 2040 or sooner. These two announcements are important building blocks for us to reach these objectives.

Thank you for all you do. Stay safe.

Richard J. Leary
Chief Executive Officer
April 21, 2023