Winnipeg Transit Wants Up to 7 Electric Buses for On-Request Service

Winnipeg Transit is asking city council to carve an exception out of its diesel-only bus purchasing policy so it can buy up to seven small battery-electric buses for its on-request service. The proposal goes before the city's public works committee next week, CBC News reported, and would use money already approved in the 2027 capital budget — funds council directed in January 2025 to be spent on diesel buses.

The policy reversal, explained

City council voted in 2024 to buy only diesel buses starting next year. The new report flips that logic for the on-request fleet: transit staff say small zero-emission bus models are now inexpensive enough that the city could buy roughly three of them for the price of one 40-foot diesel bus. The buses could also qualify for federal Canada Public Transit Fund support, further improving the economics.

Mayor Scott Gillingham endorsed the idea Thursday. "Our staff has indicated that really the best value for money and the best route to go for the smaller buses for the on-request service would be to go to the electric buses," he told CBC.

Why the on-request service is the entry point

Demand is growing: the on-request service has expanded from two zones to 12, with hours extended in response to rider demand — at times nearly 4,000 people a week have used it
The small fleet is aging: Transit currently uses eight 30-foot (nine-metre) buses and 22 40-foot (12-metre) buses on the service; the 30-foot buses are 26 years old and not expected to last beyond 2028
Big buses fit badly: the 40-foot buses can have difficulty navigating residential streets, which is exactly where on-request service operates

The Canadian context

Winnipeg's move lands amid a broader Canadian shift on zero-emission buses. A September report from the International Council on Clean Transportation found the number of Canadian ZEV buses nearly doubled in 2025, and Electric Autonomy Canada reported this week that fleets are increasingly the fastest-growing slice of the market. Winnipeg itself has tested battery-electric buses before — it was one of the first Canadian cities to pilot them a decade ago — before council reversed course toward diesel in 2024.

The committee vote next week will signal whether Manitoba's capital rejoins the electrification column, at least for its smallest vehicles. With the federal Canada Public Transit Fund in the mix, the effective cost to the city of going electric could drop well below the diesel alternative — the exact arithmetic that flipped staff recommendation.

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