TransLink has taken a significant step toward replacing its entire trolley bus fleet by starting the procurement bidding process.
TransLink spokesperson Dan Mountain told Daily Hive Urbanized the public transit authority is now seeking a bus manufacturer to replace all 262 trolley buses, which represents roughly 15% of TransLink’s entire bus fleet and is North America’s second largest trolley bus fleet. In 2023, the region’s trolley bus network marked its 75th anniversary.
Currently, the trolley buses operate on 13 routes within Vancouver, UBC, and eastern Burnaby, which are among the busiest for ridership in TransLink’s network of approximately 220 bus routes.
The existing trolley buses are now nearing the end of their lifespan, having been introduced in separate waves between 2005 and 2009. This entails 188 standard 40-ft trolley buses that went into service first, followed by 74 standard 60-ft articulated trolley buses closer to the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The forthcoming replacements of the trolley bus fleet have been discussed and reported by Daily Hive Urbanized since before the pandemic, as early as 2019. The need to replace the aging trolley buses was also reaffirmed in 2022, and the use of a new generation trolley bus with a longer-range battery for off-wire operations by a European manufacturer was even tested in 2023 in anticipation of the forthcoming fleet replacement. TransLink previously indicated a targeted window of introducing the new fleet of replacement vehicles between 2027 and 2030.
Trolley bus with longer range in-motion battery by Solaris Bus & Coach being tested by TransLink in Vancouver, on August 17, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Furthermore, in December 2023, the federal government announced it will cover half of the $27 million cost to upgrade TransLink’s overhead trolley wires that feed electricity to the trolley bus vehicles, including replacing up to 600 trolley poles, 60 km of running wire, and six km of underground cable. This work will extend the lifespan of the overhead trolley infrastructure by up to 60 years.
According to the recent Request For Proposal (RFP) seeking a manufacturer, TransLink is looking to buy up to 106 standard 40-ft trolley buses. The RFP’s bid submission deadline is in early September 2024.
Additionally, the RFP directs interested manufacturers to also include pricing on additional optional orders — on top of the baseline order of 106 standard 40-ft trolley buses. This includes Option 1 of ordering an additional 201 standard 40-ft trolley buses, and Option 2 of up to 203 60-ft articulated trolley buses, plus one pilot 60-ft articulated trolley bus.
Mountain says they are currently planning one-for-one replacements of the vehicles but are also keeping the option open for the contractor to provide additional vehicles if needed.
“The numbers provided in the RFP are a maximum number of vehicles we may need in the future, but how many buses we actually order will depend on our future service needs, which hasn’t been decided at this time. The different options will give us flexibility in fleet type without the need to repeat the procurement process once the number of vehicles we need is determined,” said Mountain.
TransLink trolley buses on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
The “pilot” trolley bus serves the purpose of testing the vehicle locally to identify any kinks, before receiving more vehicles from the manufacturer. The intention is to receive the first pilot vehicle in 2026.
If the second option of further orders were to be pursued, it would grow the 60-ft articulated trolley bus fleet size exponentially. In a 2023 Mayors’ Council meeting, TransLink staff suggested the potential use of trolley buses as the dedicated vehicles for the public transit authority’s ambitious plan to add more RapidBus routes and introduce new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes over the coming decade, as these services would, optimally, have their own dedicated right-of-way on the road, where putting in new overhead lines would not be as difficult. However, Mountain says the vehicle types for the future BRT lines have not been determined at this time.
Continuing and potentially expanding the use of trolley buses would support TransLink’s strategy to fully transition to a zero-emission, all-electric bus fleet by 2040, complementing the plans to introduce a significant number of battery-electric buses. The intention is to primarily acquire battery-electric bus vehicles moving forward for the replacement of aging fossil fuel-powered buses and service expansion, but this would necessitate major investments in charging and bus depot infrastructure.
The current trolley buses are among the last of TransLink’s bus fleet to not be equipped with air conditioning for improved passenger comfort in warm weather. TransLink previously indicated that air conditioning has been a requirement for all bus orders since 2012, and 100% of the entire bus fleet across the region should be equipped with air conditioning by 2028 through vehicle replacement and expansion orders.
TransLink’s existing trolley bus fleet was built by Winnipeg-based New Flyer, a long-time supplier for the public transit authority.
A trolley bus travelling through the intersection of West Broadway and Cambie Street in Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
In April 2024, the provincial government announced $300 million in new capital funding for TransLink specifically towards the acquisition of new buses, including investments towards BRT vehicles.
Then in early July 2024, the federal government announced Metro Vancouver will receive $3.5 billion from the Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF) over 10 years between 2024 and 2034, with 50% or $1.7 billion going to TransLink. Previously known as the Federal Gas Tax Fund, Metro Vancouver Regional District has historically approved TransLink’s requests to use its portion of the federal capital funding from the program towards acquiring buses. This should not be confused for operational revenue, which is an emerging major issue for the public transit authority starting in 2026.