OC Transpo to 'refurbish' rather than retire 30 older buses

An OC Transpo articulated bus near Hurdman Station on April 1. Transpo staff has identified more than 30 articulated buses that have exceeded their 15-year "useful life" cycle as candidates for refurbishment. Photo by TONY CALDWELL /POSTMEDIA

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OC Transpo is delaying the retirement of a number of older articulated 60-foot buses and opting to refurbish the buses instead as “standby” vehicles for severe weather or transit disruptions.

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OC Transpo staff has identified more than 30 articulated buses that have exceeded their 15-year “useful life” cycle and were set to be decommissioned in 2026.

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Those buses will instead undergo a “major refurb” in hopes of delivering an additional three to five years of service, according to director of bus operations and maintenance Rami El Feghali.

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The standby capacity is necessary for service disruptions or major weather events, El Feghali said, and will also give OC Transpo extra “flexibility” in onboarding its new fleet of zero-emission electric buses.

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“During a transition of this scale, we need additional standby capacity in the fleet so that we can respond to scenarios such as major weather events, service disruptions or temporary fluctuations that either take buses out of service or require more buses on the road,” El Feghali told the April 9 transit committee.

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El Feghali said OC Transpo was still pursuing second-hand diesel buses to bolster its fleet while awaiting the delivery of more e-buses.

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A 2024 file photo of the main garage of OC Transpo. Construction is set to begin on a new parking garage in the second quarter of 2026 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2027. Photo by JEAN LEVAC /POSTMEDIA

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The city has seen a recent “ramp-up” on the electric bus front, with 109 e-buses now in Ottawa and 90 of those available for service and training.

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The city has so far acquired 68 chargers and another 36 are being commissioned, staff told the transit committee.

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OC Transpo is expecting to have 234 e-buses and 193 active chargers by the end of 2026 and is on track to meet its goal of 354 ebuses and 329 chargers by the end of 2027.

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There are fewer chargers than buses as they are not required on a one-for-one ratio, staff said. Progress is also being made on renovations to the St-Laurent garage to accommodate the new charging stations.

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Construction is set to begin on a new parking garage in the second quarter of 2026 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2027.

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The zero-emission buses already on Ottawa roads are performing well, according to El Feghali.

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The electric buses within the OC Transpo fleet have accumulated more than two million kilometres, which equates to a savings of 930,000 litres of diesel fuel and a reduction of 2,360 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

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“From a performance perspective, our new electric buses are doing well in service and the number that we are able to put into service is steadily increasing,” El Feghali said.

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OC Transpo had a daily average of nine e-buses in service in early January. That average increased to 62 by the end of March.

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“There are some fluctuations from week to week, which is expected in a project that is still being scaled up,” El Feghali said, “but the overall trend is clearly upward.”