By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

New city buses feature improved accessibility and environmental impact

Feb 1, 2017 | 1:29 PM

LETHBRIDGE – The City of Lethbridge showed off one of the newest additions to their transit fleet Wednesday morning (Feb. 1), which features improved accessibility and a reduced environmental impact.

The 40-foot bus is one of six already on city streets — with two more 30-foot buses still coming — and has a fully automated restraint system for riders using a wheelchair or electric scooter, along with what’s called a clean diesel engine.

On older buses, the driver would have to come back and help strap-in the riders chair. Now, either the rider themselves or the driver can simply push a bottom, and the automated arms take care of the rest.

To help demonstrate the accessibility of the new units for the media, Chris Schamber got onto the bus using his motorized wheelchair and had it locked in place with the new system.

“Having independence to go to and from appointments throughout your municipality is a great improvement for people trying to live an inclusive life,” explained Schamber. “Every bus now in the City of Lethbridge is pretty much accessible. They made all the bus stops accessible with concrete from the sidewalks… They’ve done an impressive job to accommodate accessibility over the last 10-years.”

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As for the environmental footprint, it’s estimated that the new buses will save over 13 litres of fuel per 100 kms, something Transit Maintenance Manager, Scott Grieco, says will definitely add up.

“We’re expecting about a 20-per cent fuel savings over the course of time, that translates to about $13,700 per year [per bus] in fuel savings and obviously a 33-per cent reduction in greenhouse gases,” stated Grieco.

The buses are part of the city’s five year plan (2015-2020) to replace and add to the current transit fleet. The project totals about $13-million, however it is fully funded through the provincial government’s Green Transit Incentives Program (GreenTRIP) and the Federal Gas Tax Fund.

The six — soon to be eight — buses will now be evaluated to determine if they are the appropriate choice for future replacements.