While the news from Montreal that they are all set to become the first major North American City to convert their entire city bus fleet to electric vehicles is to be cheered and welcomed it does beg two important follow up questions. In an age of near fossil fuel extinction (not to mention environmental impacts) why aren’t all major and minor North American cities racing to beat Montreal? Not just in the spirit of competition but in the spirit of common sense. Public transport is an excellent and huge part of the solution to our outrageous carbon emissions and probably far more so than you even hoped. The other question this announcement forces is that while the news is good and the city of Montreal is to be applauded – the conversion deadline they have announced is 2025 – fifteen years from now, surely it makes for great logic to bring that date forward? Not just in Montreal but in all large urban areas a commitment to greener public transport should not be a token gesture but an all encompassing movement within the next decade.

Montreal is definitely on the right path however, by 2012 the city states that their entire fleet of some 1,300 buses will be either diesel or hybrid. This in itself is an accomplishment that would put many other cities to shame. Presently the first phase planned by the city is to replace about 400 of the oldest members of the city fleet with new diesel models as the city simultaneously is testing and seeking a source to start growing an electric fleet. The city also expects to begin testing buses that will run on overhead electric wires along some of the cities’ busiest routes later in 2011. We’ve come full circle as street-car make a reappearance in major North American cities, in the late 1940′s almost every city had a functioning and efficient network of electric street-cars. These fully operative public transport plans were gradually ripped up city by city over the following decade. Much of this modernization (destruction) of the existing public transport infrastructure was funded by none other than General Motors, which is another story for another blog.

The environmental benefits of using public transport are as numerous as they are vast. On a person by person basis nothing makes a bigger difference to our carbon footprints than the reduction or even the complete elimination of using a passenger car daily. While we shouldn’t ignore the benefits of purchasing a new energy efficient appliance, adjusting our thermostats or ensuring unused lights are switched off all of these gesture pale into insignificance compared with reducing your driving by 70% or more. One person switching to public transit can reduce daily carbon emissions by 20 pounds per day or more than 4,800 pounds in a year, I won’t depress you and compare that to changing your light bulbs as all gestures matter – but the gasoline powered car is the single biggest individual green debt we use daily.

I applaud the decision that has been announced by Montreal and hope it creates a domino effect in a city near you. Please write in to let us know about local green efforts with public transport wherever you may live.