Public transport is not overloaded during the quarantine measures against the pandemic, but Canada wants it to be environmentally friendly when the crisis ends. The Canadian government plans to invest C $ 2,75 billion (about $ 2,17 billion) to electrify public transport across the country over five years.

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It is about buying more zero-emission buses in addition to other initiatives, officials said. The effort is part of a larger C $ 14,9 billion ($ 11,77 billion) public transportation modernization package.

Existing programs have already purchased 300 environmentally friendly buses, but the new initiative will help the government meet its target of purchasing and deploying an additional 5000 buses over the next 5 years. The government hopes the move will also create jobs for Canadian bus manufacturers like Nova Bus, GreenPower and New Flyer.

The challenge, of course, is to make a meaningful impact on ongoing processes. Canada’s relatively small population and concentration in several large cities should make the initiative more effective, but so far we are not talking about a complete transition of Canadian transport services to electric vehicles or hydrogen. One way or another, the electrification of public transport in the country can become an example for the United States and other countries to accelerate movement in the same direction.