REGINA - The first fleet of Regina’s new electric buses will roll out next week.
At a media event held on Thursday, the city confirmed that seven electric buses will roll out along different routes daily starting next Monday.
Nathan Luhning, director of transit, said the buses can last four hours and will be charged overnight at the city’s transit fleet maintenance facility.
He noted that factors like colder weather will reduce how far the buses can go on a single charge. However, the city has no concerns regarding the buses having operational issues in cooler weather.
So far, the city has installed 10 charging stations, with 50 more coming in the future.
These buses between Regina, and transit bus manufacturer Nova Bus struck back in Jan. 2024.
In the deal, the city purchased 20 electric buses, with 13 of those coming in 2026.
The cost for the $52 million project is being split between the city and federal government.
There is also the potential for the city to purchase more electric buses in the future.
The buses align with the city’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
"a fully electric bus fleet will result in annual fuel savings of 2,943,000 litres on average, reducing annual emissions by 2,934 tonnes,"
Regina has committed to having fully alternative technology buses by 2040 as part of their energy and sustainability framework.
Currently, the city has 123 buses in their fleet.
Funding concerns
One concern raised during the 2025 budget was how the city would pay for all these buses.
A new electric bus costs $1.37 million to purchase, while a new diesel bus costs around $700,000 to acquire, said Luhning
For one year, an electric bus would cost around $25,000 less to operate than a diesel bus.
Even with reduced maintenance costs, a diesel bus would cost roughly $200,000 less to purchase and operate over 17 years compared to an electric bus.
Looking at saving money for residents, several city councillors were in favour of an amendment brought forward during budget deliberations to cancel the electric bus contract.
At the time, Ward 2 Coun. George Tsiklis pointed out the city’s transit fleet reserve will only be at approximately $2 million in 2025, questioning how Regina can afford this.
City administration mentioned that cancelling the contract could hurt the relationship between Regina and the federal government.
The amendment was rejected by most councillors.
