Brilliant in green and easily distinguishable, the city of Vancouver has added two new electric-diesel hybrid buses to their public transportation fleet. Converted from former hydrogen fuel cell test buses, the hybrids were installed with small diesel engines—smaller than a typical diesel bus engine. This engine then powers up a battery, which is also recharged as the bus brakes. The higher the speed of the bus, the more it relies on diesel.
All of the work on the engine conversion was done in Houston, Texas. From Vancouver to Houston is a long way to transport buses, especially if they end up converting a whole fleet. Is the technology and the know-how to make hybrid bus engines not available in Canada? Translink will be testing the hybrids for six months, then comparing their performance with other bus models, such as the diesel and natural gas buses, to see if the hybrids perform best.

Watch this, to find out first-hand what it’s like to ride a hybrid bus.