The wheels on the bus run on batteries, thanks to $44M electric-fleet plan

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Langs Bus Lines is getting a major jolt in the form of $44 million in federal funding that will help the London business electrify half of its school bus fleet by 2026, a first for the region.

The company, which provides buses for schools in London, Sarnia, Strathroy, Chatham-Kent and Woodstock, is receiving a $22-million grant from Ottawa as part of its Zero Emission Transit Fund, the federal government announced Friday.

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Langs, which will invest about $23 million of its own money, will also receive $22 million in the form of a loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank to cover the upfront cost of buying the vehicles and installing the needed infrastructure to recharge their batteries.

“I think the electric vehicle revolution is coming,” Kevin Langs, vice-president of the family-owned business, said of the company’s decision to seek federal funding. “It’s going to happen in general, and we want to be a part of it. We want to be a leading part of it.”

In total, Langs will be replacing about 200 of its full-sized diesel buses with electric ones.

That means about 9,000 school children in the wider London region will get to ride on the new emission-free buses, which Langs described as “very quiet and very smooth,” in two years.

The project is the first large-scale fleet upgrade for school bus companies in Southwestern Ontario, the government said.

It will also help the company reduce its carbon footprint by about 4,200 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year, the equivalent energy consumption of 550 homes.

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“It’s also a unique time for us in that we have a large number of our full-size buses reaching the age of replacement,” Langs said. “So, to be able to replace diesel buses that are at the end of their service life with electric ones, it’s just a unique opportunity.”

Peter Fragiskatos, MP for London North Centre, described Ottawa’s funding for such projects as one of the many pieces and initiatives needed to tackle and mitigate the effects of climate change.

“When we look at the transportation sector in particular, we know that it’s especially responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions that we see . . . and we have to act, there’s no question about it,” he said.

“So I see the green transition as one that is vital because climate change is an existential crisis, but along with that come enormous economic opportunities.”

Langs said work to retrofit the company’s parking yards will be starting in the coming months, with work focusing on the major centres the companies serve, such as London.

Langs also said the company envisions it could be running a fully electric bus fleet in the near future.

“That’s the long-term goal,” he said.

jjuha@postmedia.com

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