Planning to attend the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Whistler, BC? Odds are, if you forget to brush your teeth one morning, your breath will smell far worse than the exhaust from the public bus you’ll be riding to your Olympic event.
There is no exhaust, in fact, generated by a unique fleet of hydrogen-powered buses destined for Whistler. “The emissions are essentially water,” explains marketing specialist Brian Swinden of Winnipeg, MB’s aptly named New Flyer Industries. Zero pollution plus a smooth, wheelchair-accessible ride that’s easy on the ears (no engine rev as it pulls away from the curb) are what passengers will notice. Sustainability experts will applaud the all-Canadian initiative that makes it possible. (While ISE of California builds the hybrid system used in the vehicles, the buses will be built entirely in Canada.)
With a $46.4-million contract from BC Transit, New Flyer is busy building the 20-vehicle fleet, a world first. A “Manitoba-born and bred” company, New Flyer says it’s a North American leader in green transit. The company partnered with Vancouver, BC’s Ballard Power Systems in 2005 to test the very first hydrogen fuel-cell bus in cold weather on Winnipeg roads.
“Virtually nothing runs cleaner,” BC Transit operations manager Bruce Rothwell says. The contract to showcase the vehicles at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games has generated tremendous local pride in Winnipeg and excitement at BC Transit’s head office in Victoria, BC. “We’ll road-test the first one in Victoria, then take it up to Whistler, probably in July of 2009 as part of a public outreach program,” Rothwell confirms. “We’d like Whistler residents to come and kick the tires!”
www.newflyer.com www.bctransit.com/fuelcell www.vancouver2010.com