Ottawa to pursue more environmentally friendly service vehicles
By Greg Guevara
Ottawa’s transportation committee is pursuing a $500,000-a-year plan to give the city’s fleet of service vehicles a more greenish hue.
The “Green Fleet” program aims to replace or retrofit almost 100 ambulances, fire trucks or other fleet vehicles that are used to roadways and parks or issue parking tickets around Ottawa.
Some of the money is going towards the purchase of new hybrid vehicles, which are more fuel-efficient than conventional fuel-burning models. Some of these hybrid vehicles include Ford Fusions used by municipal bylaw enforcement officers.
Other vehicles may be installed with anti-idling systems and telematics — devices that track fuel-usage and let vehicle operators know just how much gas they use or misuse.
Luke Senecal, Ottawa’s manager of fleet life cycle and safety, said the anti-idling technology could include unexpected use in ambulances.
Life-saving pills transported by ambulances can be ruined by the cold, and newly-installed heating devices could keep the ambulance warm without requiring the vehicle to keep running. Less idling means fuel savings and fewer greenhouse gases.
Another aspect of the plan would be replacing a previous commitment to cut back fuel use by one per cent a year with a new goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by one per cent a year. The refocused target might allow fleet vehicles to use the same amount of gas, but in a more efficient manner.
“Ok, you burned a litre of fuel – how far have you gone?” said Senecal. Instead of just cutting back on gas, he said the focus should be on greenhouse gas reduction, which is the actual focus of international climate-change accords like the Paris Agreement.
As the proposal for the initiative says, “a focus on fuel reduction does not capture the ultimate goal of GhG emissions reduction and in particular does not capture green fleet impacts from use of vehicles and equipment that use alternative fuels.”
Instead of just cutting back on gas, Senecal said, the city should be focusing on what really matters: greenhouse gas reduction. And the best way to do that is with efficient vehicles that can use alternative forms of fuel, anti-idling devices and telematics that provide more information on how gas is being used and inspire strategies for energy conservation.
The plan coincides with the city’s public works department’s plan to “purchase hybrid and electric vehicles in 2017 and 2018… when hybrid and electric options exist in the market, where those vehicles meet operational needs and where there is available funding to purchase them from the Green Fleet Fund.”
On Oct. 4, a report detailing the plan was received by councillors. Success of the plan could mean a shift towards fully electric cars, changing vans and even pick up trucks into hybrids, and research on biofuels in the future.