The region approved a plan last night to grow its Grand River Transit bus fleet without restricting future purchases to hybrid or electric vehicles.
A pilot program using electric buses determined the state of the bus manufacturing industry and the limited distances and charge times associated with electric buses makes it impractical to buy only electric buses at this time.
The region will consider clean-diesel, clean-diesel hybrid, and battery-electric buses for fleet updates in 2026.
The fleet needs to replace 82 buses from 2026-2030 to maintain current service. The fleet will also need to grow by 10 buses per year to meet increased demand for car-free options to get around Waterloo Region.