Day: May 2, 2023

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TTC eBus Contract Goes to New Flyer and Nova Bus

With the federal announcement of funding for the TTC’s eBus project, the bid award has been posted on the MERX website as of May 2, 2023.

The bid closed on April 18, 2022, but was not awarded until late January 2023, likely subject to receipt of funding.

The dollar value of the awards are $343.5 million to New Flyer and $220.2 million to Nova Bus. Vehicle quantities are not included in the MERX information, and I await a press release from the TTC with more details.

The total of $563.7 million is split roughly 60/40 between the two builders. This implies that neither of them scored in the highest possible echelon on product evaluation. This would have led to a much higher proportion going to one of two, or even to a single bidder, based on the scoring system in the RFP.

By implication, BYD, the only other bidder, fell even lower in the scoring. This is not surprising considering the quality and reliability problems the TTC has encountered with their vehicles.

I will update this article with additional information as I receive it.

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TTC Service Changes Effective May 7, 2023 (Final Version)

On May 1, 2023, the TTC released the final version of the service changes planned for May 7. These are substantially the same as the draft version obtained via a Freedom of Information request by TTCRiders. See Draft of TTC Service Changes Effective Sunday, May 7, 2023.

Back in January during budget debates, some Councillors asked for details of the service cuts that would be implemented due to increased crowding standards and financial constraints. TTC staff agreed that this information could be available within a week, but an unseen hand at a higher level (either the TTC CEO Leary or then-Mayor Tory’s office) blocked this. Actually admitting the effects of a budget before it was approved simply was not part of the TTC’s agenda.

The official, final version allows comparison with the draft version. Although the TTC suggested that TTCRiders publication of the draft could be misleading because of changes in the final version, in fact there is very little change.

This article includes only the updates since the draft version, and readers should look to the article linked above for the full list. The spreadsheet (linked later in the article) detailing all of the changes has been updated to reflect the differences between the draft and final versions.

Updated May 2, 2023 at 10:10 am: A overview of all routes showing which get more service and which get less has been added.

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