THUNDER BAY -- The city's share of the federal transit infrastructure fund has prompted staff to project doubling its annual order to 24 buses.
Thunder Bay Transit intends to purchase 12 buses and 12 more specialized buses with the support of $6 million the city received through a cross-Canada $3.4-billion public transit stimulus.
Thunder Bay Transit acting asset manager Jim Suffak said half the bus order is expected to arrive at the end of 2017 and the other half will arrive in the spring of 2018.
"Typically, we purchase three of each in each year," he said. "For this program, we're leveraging the 50 per cent fund from the federal government, which will double the order."
A plan Thunder Bay Transit will present to city council on Monday requests the city commit $6,858,500 to new buses in 2017 and $5,210,000 in 2018.
Along with that presentation, Thunder Bay Transit will present council with the option of joining 61 member municipalities in the federal CUTRIC initiative, a project to integrate electric bus development.
"It's not something where we're buying anything," Suffak said. "We're developing a business case, a feasibility, looking at how electric buses might integrate into our current transit system."
