New Bus for Ogden Point Cruise Passengers: It’s Electric
Posted by Eric Haun
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Victoria's Ogden Point terminal is one of Canada’s busiest ports for cruise ships, having grown from 110 ship calls carrying 161,000 passengers in 2002 to 227 cruise ships and 533,000 passengers during the 2015 season under the stewardship of Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA).
This growth has become an important economic driver for the region, GVHA said, leading the group to work collaboratively with industry partners to encourage opportunities to expose cruise visitors to more unique Victoria experiences, thereby expanding the positive economic impact.
Working alongside CVS Cruise Victoria Ltd. and GreenPower Motor Company Inc., GVHA has now unveiled North America’s first purpose built, fully electric double-decker bus as part of a pilot project to evaluate electric bus transportation for the cruise tourism industry.
“We’re excited to unveil this fully electric double-decker bus and get it into service,” said Ian Robertson, CEO of the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority. “We’re committed to testing and evaluating new technologies and new ideas in ground transportation, and this will be an excellent pilot, helping us to plan into the future.”
GVHA and CVS Tours entered into a lease agreement with GreenPower to pilot the fully electric EV550 double-decker bus for one year through Osden Point's 2017 cruise season. The bus is currently going through road trials and will be evaluated throughout the next year in order to assess the feasibility of electric bus transportation, with a focus on cost of operations, emissions reduction, noise reduction and charging station requirements.
“This new bus represents a commitment on the part of CVS and its partners to the environment, community and the future,” said Dave Roberts, acting general manager of CVS Tours. “We are hopeful that this pilot deployment project proves to be a success and will help to lead the industry. This technology has never been implemented in Victoria before and we are very keen to put it through a test year.”