May/June 2023 - 40

Minibus
the bus at a U.S. facility, the location of
which is still being finalized.
" By the middle of 2024, we will definitely
have a manufacturing facility in operation, "
said D'Hollander.
Oakville Transit
Oakville, Ontario, sits on the edge of
Lake Ontario slightly more than 20
miles southwest of Toronto. Oakville
Transit is part of a larger regional area
and as Adrian Kawun, director, Oakville
Transit, explains, the town takes great
pride in providing superior service and
innovative solutions.
Oakville Transit has taken delivery of
15 e-JEST buses and is in the process of
commissioning them before they are placed
into specialized and on-demand service,
which is planned for the end of May. The
minibuses support Oakville Transit's incremental
transition to a zero-emission fleet.
" The idea here is that before you can
go and buy a full suite of electric vehicles,
you really have to understand, from an
operator perspective, how you are going to
actually recharge these vehicles, " Kawun
said. " We did an electric infrastructure
review of our facility and identified that
we could accommodate these 15 electric
buses without any change to our existing
operation in terms of the electricity. "
While modifications were not needed,
operators and mechanics did undergo
training to ensure the safe operation of
the new additions to the fleet.
" These vehicles drive more like a car;
they're nimble and easy to get around, but
they're electric and there's a lot of torque
to them, " Kawun explained. " When we
trained the operators, we focused on how
to maintain that electric charge and battery
to provide more distance. "
Kawun reports feedback has been overwhelmingly
positive from both operators
and customers, who have been introduced
to the vehicles during charters and at special
events. He said an unusual reaction
observed from riders is people tend to be
quieter in the e-JEST because it's a smaller
bus and doesn't make the same level of
noise a diesel bus would.
" The operators love these things, " said
Kawun. " We have operators who don't usually
operate the specialized or on-demand
service that want to because they want to
get into these vehicles. "
When Kawun ponders the greater
impact of the e-JEST's potential impact
on the North American transit industry,
he explains the more options available to
operate in terms of vehicles, the more options
that can be provided to the customer.
" These vehicles will change the way agencies
in areas like mine provide our service
or add to our service delivery in terms of
reorganizing how we operate within the
town, " said Kawun. " These vehicles are 100
percent accessible, which then gives us the
opportunity to provide transit services as
a transit service and not a two-tier system
where we have a conventional system and
then a specialized system. Now, it's the transit
bus. There's no stigma attached to it. It
is for everybody, anytime, anywhere. "
For more information, visit www.MassTransitmag.com/10065116
40 Mass Transit | MAY/JUNE 2023
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5/9/23 2:02 PM
http://www.MassTransitmag.com/10065116
May/June 2023

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