The City of Thunder Bay has released plans for a phased approach to transition to electric vehicles for Thunder Bay Transit and the municipal fleet.

The Transit Zero Emissions Transition Plan and the Municipal Fleet Zero Emissions Transition Plan will be presented to City Council as a first report on Monday, May 13.

Putting the plans in place will allow the City to access future funding for electric vehicles (EVs) and supportive infrastructure like charging stations, building on millions of dollars the City has already secured from other levels of government to begin the transition.

Studies completed to inform the plans determined that fleet electrification is largely viable, but recommend a phased approach. This will allow the City to evaluate the performance of initial EV purchases, and take advantage of technological advances and emerging best practices.

The plans were built on extensive modeling of energy consumption, working with Synergy North and considering factors like Thunder Bay’s topography, ambient temperatures, and heating and cooling requirements.

The transition to EVs responds to the City’s declaration of a climate emergency and is an important step in achieving targets in the City’s Net-Zero Strategy.

For example, the plans would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 90 per cent in Transit operations by 2044 – the equivalent of taking about 13,000 gas-powered vehicles off of Thunder Bay’s roads each year.

After the first report presented for information on Monday, the Transit and Fleet Zero Emissions Transition Plan will return to Council for deliberation on July 15.