Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Councillor pushes trolley buses
Wyatt wants city to study feasibility
The CAnadian PRess archives City councillor Russ Wyatt (right) says electric trolley buses, like the ones seen in Vancouver, could save the city money while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (CNS VANCOUVER SUN)
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Winnipeg could save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by embracing electric trolley buses, Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt says.
Decades after streetcars disappeared from Winnipeg, Wyatt wants to explore the idea of replacing diesel-powered buses with trolleys connected to overhead hydro wires.
On Wednesday, Wyatt plans to present city council with a motion to ask Winnipeg Transit to study the feasibility of electric trolley buses, which are in use in Vancouver and Edmonton.
Manitoba's ample access to relatively cheap hydro-electric power should make the technology viable in Winnipeg, says the new co-chair of Mayor Sam Katz's environmental advisory committee.
"Instead of relying on non-renewable carbon fuels, we could use renewable, clean, Manitoba-made energy," Wyatt said on Tuesday.
"Every time the price of diesel goes up one cent, it costs Winnipeg another $150,000 a year. If fuel costs rise, and most experts say they will, we will be forced to find alternatives because the cost of diesel will be a real burden on the transit system."
The trolley buses envisioned by Wyatt do not run on tracks, as Winnipeg streetcars did until 1955. They are more like the electric buses that circulated through the city until the 1960s and were phased out for good by 1970.
Winnipeg specifically wants to see whether electric trolleys could work in downtown Winnipeg to connect the University of Winnipeg with the $327-million rapid-transit corridor that will eventually extend from Queen Elizabeth Way near The Forks to Chancellor Matheson Road at the University of Manitoba.
The city is already studying the feasibility of extending an ultra-lightweight rail line described by Mayor Sam Katz as an "automated people mover" through downtown Winnipeg as a means of connecting the city's two largest universities. In January, the city made a $600-million request for federal funding toward an integrated rapid-transit system.
Katz declined to comment on Wyatt's plan, other than to say whenever anyone mentions the city's old streetcars and trolley buses, he laments the fact they were dismantled.
Vancouver, however, is the only Canadian city where trolley buses remain viable right now. Edmonton plans to phase out its trolleys by 2010.
Wyatt's motion will automatically move to city council's public works committee, which oversees Winnipeg Transit.
It will up to that committee -- Charleswood Coun. Bill Clement, Mynarski Coun. Harry Lazarenko, St. Boniface Coun. Dan Vandal and Daniel McIntyre Coun. Harvey Smith -- to decide whether to move the proposal on to Winnipeg Transit.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 28, 2009 B3
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