OC Transpo Electrification
Ecology Ottawa and our friends at the Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa, were pivotal in creating the momentum to accelerate the electrification of the bus fleet for Ottawa’s local public transit system, OC Transpo. Through partnership with the Healthy Transportation Coalition and the Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa in 2018, Ecology Ottawa’s campaign alerted Ottawa City Council and the public to the urgency of the electrification issue. 
(C) OC Transpo
With a 2021 federal funding commitment for zero-emission public transit and school buses, OC Transpo announced that it will move towards full electrification of its 932-bus fleet by 2036 and the first four electric buses are now in operation in the city. Now is the time to build on this momentum for those most vulnerable in our society to the health problems caused by diesel buses, to electrify the school bus fleet.
As steering committee members of the Canadian Electric School Bus Alliance (CESBA), over the next year, Ecology Ottawa will be working with our local school boards, transport consortia (who contract out school bus services) and private school bus operators, our new councillors and mayor, as well as our MPPs and the Ministers of Education, Health, the Environment, Conservation & Parks and Transportation to accelerate the necessary transition to electric school buses.
We are proud to be collaborating with many organizations on this campaign, including For Our Kids, Earth Rangers, the Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa (EVCO), the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE Ontario) and Healthy Environments for Learning Day (HELD).
Many resources are available with further details on various aspects of the transition.
Here you can find the Transporteur+ guide for mid-sized fleets created by Propulsion Quebec, which addresses many technical aspects related to infrastructure needs.
Pollution Probe, Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment (CPCHE, ‘kip-chee’) and The Delphi Group have released a White Paper calling for the transition to electric-powered school buses across Ontario.