Transport committee  When I spoke earlier about the customization, it wasn't so much relative to standards, which are vastly different from automotive. I was in automotive before this, as well. We have our end customers who say that they want ceiling panels that are dove white, and they want bone gr

Transport committee  Oddly, it is a very small number for transit buses. There's New Flyer and Nova in Canada. Unfortunately, Orion just announced in the last month that they're closing their doors. They were headquartered, by Daimler, in Mississauga, Ontario. So three of the five were located in Can

Transport committee  Ten years ago, R and D at New Flyer was all about the introduction of hybrid buses. We went from zero hybrid buses to 40% in seven years.

Transport committee  I could be wrong, but I think it had a lot to do with the global focus on greenhouse gas emission reduction and green technology, the funding that went alongside that, and the business case for the fuel efficiency paying off, or from a life cycle cost perspective.

Transport committee  We're largely integrators, which means the pressure to meet those is more so on the engine manufacturers. We have to integrate it into our bus to ensure that it works and do our development to make sure it works, but I think the real technology challenge for EPA is more so with t

Transport committee  Absolutely. Depending on where you are in the United States and Canada, the price of electricity changes fairly significantly. We're pretty blessed in Manitoba that it's very cheap, but even in an expensive area of the United States, it's probably still one-sixth the cost of a ga

Transport committee  Putting aside the environmental benefits of having zero emissions or very close to it, as I said, the price today of the battery-electric is so significant, six to one. We're going to be making changes in the management of energy and the storage of electricity, as I was saying, b

Transport committee  I don't know the specifics enough to comment. I just believe that you are going to see places and countries really doing neat stuff, stuff exactly like that on how to best manage and store your energy. I think you'll see that propagate.

Transport committee  —and those are infrastructure requirements. People won't put overhead wires in for something new going forward. But if your question was more on BRT and why battery-electrics wouldn't be more prominent, and about the technology between capacitors and batteries—

Transport committee  I don't think anyone would really consider putting in overhead wires. I guess when you date back to trolleys, whenever they were started—in the 1930s—it was because battery technology was not where it is today. I think now, with the advancements that have been made, there's rea

Transport committee  With regard to supercaps, again, the battery technology is advancing on how quickly it can take a charge. The supercaps will take doses faster, so we do build hybrid buses with the ultra-caps. I think the battery technology will catch up enough that you'll be able to fit in a r

Transport committee  I have very similar comments, at least on the electric stuff. We're new enough into it ourselves that essentially we did a bit of a diligence on our suppliers, and we've gone with one for now. I think we have to experience some others just to see who's ahead.

Transport committee  When I hear the term “trolley”, I'm always thinking overhead—

Transport committee  In my opinion, what's going to entice a rider today to take bus rapid transit is that it has to be on time, it has to be faster than taking an automobile, and it has to be reliable. You want to know that it's going to get you where you have to go. Today, with the state of the ar

Transport committee  Yes.