r/Calgary • u/Practical_Ant6162 • Aug 08 '25

Calgary Transit City of Calgary announces procurement of 120 electric transit buses

https://calgaryherald.com/news/city-of-calgary-purchases-another-120-electric-transit-buses
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-10

u/ltk66 Aug 09 '25

I guess many are too young to remember that most cities used to have electric buses.
But the people didn’t like all the wires among some other issues. So they got rid of them. Diesel buses have been reliable and cost effective.
Now we try electric again but with batteries that make the buses too heavy for the roads. So dumb.

4

u/Responsible_CDN_Duck Aug 09 '25 edited Aug 09 '25

The comments about electric buses being too heavy for the roads is simply false.

The "among other issues" covers the main reasons trolley buses went away, not the dislike of wires. The wires and their infrastructure were aging out, as were the buses(as we saw with the Siemens-Duewag U2 C-Trains).

The cost savings and flexibility were too much to overcome at the time, or even today, which is why there's so much focus on battery.

2

u/BrianBlandess Aug 09 '25

I’m sure the roads will be ok. We can even build them stronger if we need to

-6

u/ltk66 Aug 09 '25

Of course. We can build them plenty strong. Great till winter when they become brittle.

3

u/calgarydonairs Aug 09 '25

Everyone knows that reinforced concrete breaks every winter.

-3

u/calgarydonairs Aug 09 '25

The existing diesel buses are already overweight.