My Alerts 
Staying the course toward the electrification of the surface network, STM teams conducted tests and trials of the first model of the New Flyer long-range electric bus series without passengers. These tests ensure that the vehicle’s performance fulfills the STM’s operational requirements.
While maintaining an unprecedented effort to ensure the safe operation of its bus, métro and paratransit networks during COVID-19, the STM is forging ahead with projects that will have a major impact on transit in Montréal in the coming years.
Staying the course toward the electrification of the surface network, STM teams conducted tests and trials of the first model of the New Flyer long-range electric bus series without passengers. These tests ensure that the vehicle’s performance fulfills the STM’s operational requirements. The bus has already been driven 13,000 kilometres, or the equivalent distance from Montréal to Cape Town, South Africa.
Trial by water
As Montréal buses are subject to inclement weather, sometimes including deep water on roads, the STM is aiming for all parts under the vehicle to be waterproof to ensure that they can continue working properly in such conditions. To evaluate this feature, a test was conducted last week on a closed course at the PMG Test Centre in Blainville. The goal was to drive the bus for several dozen metres through a large pool of water 30 centimetres deep, level with the height of the bus’s floor. The results are in, and no error codes or unplanned stops were recorded. The “baptism” was a success!
Having obtained these satisfactory trial results, the STM is continuing its process of confirming and expanding its knowledge of this vehicle, the first of a batch of 30 long-range electric buses expected to arrive by late fall.
Photos - crédit @JFSavaria
