Transport committee  It's the Canadian motor vehicle safety standards that have to apply. You can't buy a European car if it doesn't meet the safety standards. So European carmakers sell thousands of buses here so they can modify their vehicle to comply with the CMVSS. But if we're purchasing a hundr

Transport committee  We'd like to purchase these vehicles. For one year it's not worth the million dollars that an electric vehicle might cost. They produce a lot of electric buses in Asia, Japan, and Korea, but to European standards, because the Europeans are most likely to purchase these vehicles i

Transport committee  Certainly we lack funding right now to do these projects. There is no funding for public transit work. We've discussed the fact that financing is looked at on a provincial basis. Why is that? It is because there's no federal money to help us, so we have to analyze it on a provinc

Transport committee  The regulatory measures are our biggest hurdle right now. We'd like to attract foreign companies to invest in building buses here, or to help us by bringing the technology that they have abroad. If there could be any type of encouragement to do that, that would also help us.

Transport committee  Not only is it feasible, but it would also be easy because the standards are very similar. It would not be difficult to put forward that kind of proposition since a committee could examine the matter.

Transport committee  Absolutely.

Transport committee  Yes, that is exactly it.

Transport committee  The members of the European community have standardized their regulations. A major step has been taken in that area. They have also raised their standards. The United States has traditionally had very high standards respecting vehicle pollution. As I explained earlier, now it is

Transport committee  That would be a very good idea. I did not mention that European standards have been adopted in South America and Asia. We can virtually say that the rest of the world is adopting those standards. A large volume of the buses produced in Brazil meet European standards. That would o

Transport committee  In North America, bumpers must resist a collision at 7.5 km/hr, whereas the standard in Europe is 5 km/hr. As a result of this 2.5 km/hr difference, a European front bumper does not meet the Canadian standard.

Transport committee  I see, it is not the electric technology. There is something lacking in the standards. The problem stems from all the other parts of the bus. It is in that area that this does not meet the standards. In Europe, you have to break the glass in an emergency. In Canada, the glass mus

Transport committee  Transport Canada allows us to import a vehicle for one year, but it has to be destroyed at the end of the year or it must leave Canadian soil. A Fiat IVECO is currently being tested in Montreal. Several thousands of units of that vehicle are being manufactured in Europe. We are e

Transport committee  Requests beyond one year are denied.

Transport committee  I have no answer to that question.

Transport committee  For motors, Canada relies on U.S. regulations. In the case of city buses, a single manufacturer in North America manufactures an eligible motor for public transit purposes. There is competition in Europe: five or six manufacturers build motors that meet European standards. If you