Mississauga has to complete the greening of its transit fleet—easier said than done

Mississauga’s public transit system is on the brink of fullscale transformation. The city is exploring cutting-edge technologies like wireless electric bus charging and hydrogen fuel cells to slash emissions and modernize its fleet. 

Behind the bold plans and green ambitions lies a complex puzzle that has to be solved before the city can move into a new world.

Under its Climate Change Action Plan, the City of Mississauga has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and by 80 percent by 2050, compared to 1990 levels. 

Within the GTHA, Peel Region is the second-largest emitter after Toronto, releasing 11.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually. Transportation is a major culprit, with vehicle emissions across Peel increasing by five percent in 2023 alone.

(City of Mississauga)

Demand for public transit continues to grow, with MiWay’s ridership rising 5.7 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year.

Although public transit is far cleaner than the single-occupancy vehicles that clog GTHA highways, Mississauga’s buses still largely run on diesel—contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. 

According to the City’s Climate Change Action Plan, transit is responsible for 61 percent of emissions from municipal operations.

(City of Mississauga)

“Transit is currently the highest GHG emitting division and is the one that will make the biggest positive impact by “greening” the fleet,” a city spokesperson told The Pointer.

As of 2019, MiWay announced it would stop purchasing conventional diesel buses and instead invest in hybrid and zero-emission vehicles. At that time, the fleet included 500 diesel buses, which accounted for 68 percent of the city's total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The latest addition of 127 forty-foot and 38 sixty-foot buses boosted MiWay’s hybrid-electric fleet to 206 vehicles.

(City of Mississauga)

Since then, progress has been steady but slower than promised. Today, 41 percent of MiWay’s fleet—206 buses—are second-generation hybrid-electrics. That’s well short of the city’s stated goal to make nearly 60 percent of the fleet hybrid-electric by the end of 2024.

Hybrid buses once looked like the future, but they now feel more like the past. Because they still rely on diesel, hybrids lock municipalities into long-term emissions, with buses purchased today potentially remaining on the roads and emitting for another two decades. 

Battery electric buses (BEBs) and hydrogen fuel cell buses (FCEBs) are no longer just concepts—they’re here and essential for achieving real emission reductions. Though their upfront costs are higher, experts emphasize the long-term benefits in emissions reductions, public health and operating efficiency.

Mississauga’s exploration of hydrogen fuel cell electric buses (FCEBs) has taken shape in a major pilot project, supported by the federal Zero Emission Transit Fund (ZETF), marking the largest FCEB deployment in Ontario to date. The pilot aims to test vehicle performance across seasons, validate real-world range, especially in winter, and optimize how different bus types are deployed across MiWay’s growing transit network.

The initiative will see MiWay purchase 10 New Flyer 40-foot FCEBs, scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2026 and deployed from the Malton transit facility. 

Council approved the purchase in September 2024, and by February 2025 also secured a green hydrogen supply agreement with Enbridge’s Markham plant, aligning fuel logistics with vehicle arrival. Each FCEB will carry five 7.5 kg hydrogen tanks (37.5 kg total) mounted on the roof, offering a range of 595 kilometres per fill with zero tailpipe emissions—just water vapour. 

One major advantage is the refuelling which mirrors the current diesel process, taking minutes instead of the hours typically required for battery-electric bus (BEB) charging. 

But both FCEBs and BEBs still pose infrastructure challenges and there are questions about their cost and each technology. A longer BEB used on busier routes is about $1.4 million, compared to approximately $700,000 for a diesel bus and $1.8 million for a hydrogen fuel cell bus (FCEB). 

Those lobbying for FCEBs (many industry players) argue fully electric buses lack range and cold weather impacts their performance, with route configurations that might not be as efficient and the need for wholescale creation of new charging infrastructure. BEBs also need clean electricity sources for charging to make them truly green and there is more need for end of day charging. Simultaneously, those pushing BEBs emphasize costs that continue to come down, better overall environmental results without carbon intensive infrastructure to support FCEBs and questions about the need for producing and using potentially dangerous hydrogen. They also raise concerns about the future supply and cost of hydrogen and ongoing issues about allegedly inaccurate data used by industry players lobbying aggressively for FCEBs (similar concerns have been raised about some who support BEBs).

The dilemma about which technology to use, or whether both can effectively be implemented under one green strategy, illustrates the complexity facing decision makers who lack expertise.

Mississauga is trying to work through numerous challenges.    

Mississauga’s existing transit maintenance and storage depots face grid limitations for BEBs, the system lacks on-route charging and grapples with cold-weather range reductions. The Malton site will be equipped with a hydrogen fueling station by Enbridge, with a potential backup supply 9 kilometres away. 

Future infrastructure plans—including a new West Credit facility by 2032—may integrate both hydrogen and electric technologies. 

Strategically, FCEBs will target longer routes where range is critical, while BEBs will focus on shorter, shift-based service, City staff explained during a recent transit advisory committee meeting. 

In a statement shared with The Pointer, the City confirmed that its plan includes a mix of zero-emission technologies, recognizing that once proven, all may have a place in the fleet.

MiWay’s 10-year fleet renewal plan aims to replace buses once they are 14 years old. The vision is a mixed fleet combining BEBs, FCEBs, and possibly hybrids during the transition period.

Due to the costs and substantial infrastructure requirements for this generational transformation, diesel buses will still dominate the roads for decades.

Mississauga is now projecting hybrid-electric buses will make up 73 percent of the fleet, or 365 out of 500 buses, by 2026.

(City of Mississauga)

“Diesel buses will still be on the road into the 2040s and even the 2050s,” Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium’s president and chief executive officer, Josipa Petrunic, told The Pointer. 

“It’s simply impossible to convert a fleet overnight, nor would we want to. Many agencies have recently invested in new, efficient diesel buses; scrapping those vehicles now would waste both money and resources, and wouldn’t be environmentally responsible.”

But aside from the benefits of utilizing buses for their entire life cycle, cost–and political will–appears to be the real barrier behind the lengthy timeline Petrunic offers up, which is far from ideal. She has witnessed the sticker shock that has accompanied her presentations to cities, when she tells local elected officials they have no choice but to make the investments required to stop polluting our air. Last year she told Brampton council members they will have to invest $9 billion over 18 years to green the city’s bus fleet, which currently relies on dirty diesel. Her presentation was met with silence after she told them the only answer is going to be very, very expensive, with the anxiety-inducing news of a multi-billion-dollar reality. 

She says if all levels of government do not step up with required funding, the critical transition to clean transit “will remain frustratingly slow.” 

The math is sobering: even with close to half of Mississauga’s fleet now hybrid-electric, emissions from transit alone exceed Mississauga’s entire 2030 GHG target. With transit responsible for roughly 60 percent of the city’s total emissions, cutting 40 percent in just five years will require more than incremental change.

Enter wireless opportunity charging, a technology that has the potential to reshape Mississauga’s transit landscape.

At a May 6 transit advisory committee meeting, Adam Halsey, VP of business development at inductEV, a Pennsylvania-based wireless electric vehicle charging supplier, made a case for accelerating the rollout of battery-electric buses (BEBs), calling them the only “realistic path” to hit climate targets on time and within budget.

“While the upcoming fuel cell electric bus pilot will provide useful data, I believe that rapid deployment of BEBs is the only realistic path to achieving your targets, both in terms of timeline and budget,” Halsey said.

Beyond finding hundreds of millions of dollars to deploy BEBs, there is another question: how to charge them effectively?

Halsey outlined two primary charging strategies for electric buses: a depot-based model, where buses are recharged overnight at a central facility while out of service; and opportunity charging, which allows buses to top up their batteries during active service at designated stops along their routes using new technology already utilized in some markets.

In Canada’s cold climate, depot charging comes with challenges: reduced range, oversized batteries, the need for expanded depot space and, ironically, diesel-powered heating systems that increase emissions.
 

“Some so-called zero-emission buses still emit from diesel heaters,” Adam Halsey noted, pointing to a photo of visible tailpipe fumes.

Depot charging remains the dominant approach in Canada, largely due to early setbacks in opportunity charging. Initial deployments of BEBs acknowledged that depot-only models lacked sufficient energy storage, but technical failures and mounting pressure to show progress pushed agencies toward depot-based systems as the only practical way to introduce even a limited number of electric buses at the time.

The good news? That technology gap has now been bridged.

New opportunity charging technology uses magnetic induction: pads embedded beneath the pavement transmit power wirelessly to a bus when it’s parked directly above. Real-time digital feedback helps drivers align perfectly. 

The high power density of the charging plates keeps them naturally warm during use, allowing them to melt snow and ice on contact and stay fully operational in winter, with equipment built to withstand both extreme heat and cold.

(InductEV)

And unlike older systems, these chargers melt snow and ice, function in all weather and include fail-safes that shut off charging if metallic debris—like a wrench or soda can—is detected.

The system allows one-to-one diesel replacements, meaning agencies don’t have to double their fleets or compromise service schedules. Smaller, longer-lasting batteries reduce the environmental footprint and operational costs. And because charging is spread across the network rather than centralized, it boosts grid resilience and sidesteps the need for new depot buildings—currently Mississauga’s second-largest municipal emission source. 

South of the border, Washington became the first state to fully commit to this technology in July 2022, integrating wireless charging into its Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Plan. Since then, over 130 full-sized buses across the U.S. have adopted the system, with nearly as many on order.

“It’s in use mostly in the U.S., notably in Washington, which shares a similar climate and terrain with Mississauga,” Halsey said. “It’s also in California. Some agencies run 50 percent or more of their fleets using this. No Canadian transit system has matched that scale with any BEB method.

“Per kilowatt, wireless charging is often cheaper than pantographs. It’s modular, requires less hardware, and is easier to maintain. This is not a pilot—it’s proven, mature technology.”

Mississauga’s Transit Advisory Committee chair, Councillor Joe Horneck, views wireless charging as a possible supplement rather than a complete solution. “It’s more of a top-up throughout the day. You still need the garage to do the full overnight charging, just like fueling up a gas-powered bus,” he explained.

Horneck emphasized the financial challenges ahead, noting that the city cannot shoulder the costs alone. 

“We’re actively seeking support from provincial and federal governments. A new garage would allow us to expand our fleet and be purpose-built for electric buses, which require significant electrical infrastructure. Retrofitting our current garage would be very expensive and disruptive, so starting fresh makes more sense.” However, the City has yet to provide an estimate for how much retrofitting the existing garages, including one in Malton and another on Central Parkway, would actually cost.

Petrunic also pointed to the persistent funding gaps slowing progress. She noted that transit agencies across Canada currently lack sufficient funds, even for maintaining diesel bus fleets. Even with federal funding ramped up under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, “with billions now flowing into transit programs,” and the Canada Public Transit Fund under Prime Minister Mark Carney poised to continue providing billions more, federal funding alone won’t be enough.

She warned that federal funding covered by taxpayers across the country, simply cannot provide the needed investments to transform heavily polluting municipal transit systems.

“[F]ederal dollars alone won’t save transit. Provinces, which directly manage most transit systems, need to contribute tax dollars too, or the pace of change will remain frustratingly slow.”

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