BC Transit adds 25 new mini-buses to Greater Victoria fleet
A total of 25 new miniature buses are being added to BC Transit’s services within Greater Victoria this summer.
The provincial transit authority says these compressed natural gas (CNG) buses will offer passengers a quieter ride with reduced emissions.
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While these full-design buses look like a standard two-door bus, they have a length of 30 ft, making these vehicles 10 ft shorter than the regular 40-ft-long buses.
This Vicinity bus model is built by Aldergrove-based Grande West Transportation, which specializes in smaller, full-design buses ranging between 26 ft and 35 ft in length. Each vehicle can carry up to 44 passengers, including 24 seated and 20 standing.
The cost of each of these buses is about $455,000, with the federal and provincial governments each contributing 40%, and the Victoria Regional Transit Commission covering the remaining 20%.
BC Transit’s new Grande West Vicinity buses. (Jen Arbo/Submitted)
BC Transit’s new Grande West Vicinity buses. (Jen Arbo/Submitted)
These buses are in addition to the 99 CNG buses planned for service in CNG compatible local transit systems this year. The Victoria region’s first CNG buses went into service in February, with FortisBC supplying natural gas and Clean Energy operating the CNG fueling station at the Langford operations and maintenance centre.
But these smaller, full-design buses are not new to BC Transit, which has operated various 27.5-ft-long, 30-ft-long, and 35-ft-long buses for a number of years, in addition to the light-duty community shuttle type of buses that are also used by TransLink.
CNG storage tanks on the rooftop of a Vicinity bus. (Grande West Transportation)
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