Feds, province, municipalities to spend $22.7M on electric buses, depot expansion in P.E.I.

T3 Transit is getting $22.7 million in funding from three levels of government for new electric and diesel buses, plus the expansion of its bus depot in Charlottetown.

Part of the money will be used to make room for 19 electric buses at the facility's storage bay. Four electric vehicle chargers will also be installed at the depot, located on Mount Edward Road.

The rest of the funding will go toward buying seven electric and three diesel buses.

Politicians gathered in Charlottetown city hall Wednesday for the announcement.

"It has benefits all over," said Charlottetown Mayor Philip Brown.

"Climate mitigation, reducing our carbon footprint, reducing the impact on our infrastructure and hopefully allowing more mobility."

The increasing number of vehicles on P.E.I. roads is putting pressure on the province's infrastructure, so expanding public transit to get more residents and tourists on buses is important, Brown said.

The federal government will spend $9.1 million on the facility expansion and the new buses. The province will spend almost $7.6 million.

Charlottetown will provide $3 million for the facility. The city and the towns of Stratford and Cornwall will also make a joint $3-million contribution for the new buses.

The seven new electric buses will be in addition to the buses T3 Transit got funding for in 2021. The company got $24 million to purchase 12 electric buses two years ago.

P.E.I. already has dozens of electric school buses on its roads, but there are currently no public transit vehicles that are electric.

Conversion to electric will take time, says T3 owner

Charlottetown MP Sean Casey said he hopes all public transit in the greater Charlottetown area will be entirely electric someday.

When asked if the federal government would also be supporting a rural transit expansion, Casey said there is already a rural public transit system that takes residents in the western and eastern ends of P.E.I. to the centre of the province. 

"As a member of parliament for Charlottetown, my focus and emphasis is on the people that I represent. But I am aware that there are such programs," Casey said.

T3 Transit owner Mike Cassidy said he expects it'll be late 2026 before the facility is done and there are electric buses working in the capital region.

"The whole conversion process of electric is the main goal, but it takes time," he said.

Cassidy said that after 2026, there will likely be two to three new electric buses introduced each year until the company has all 19 buses. T3 Transit ultimately sees a 2026-2031 timeline for the rollout.

The company is hoping to have new diesel buses running next year. Cassidy said those buses will help T3 keep up with the ridership as it converts to electric systems.

"We're just people who move people, but we do have to have a conscience of how do we move people each and every day," Cassidy said.

T3 Transit takes in about 4,200 passenger fares in the capital region a day. Come September, with the increased student ridership, that number will rise to about 5,000.