Moncton City Council has approved the purchase of four new diesel buses for Codiac Transpo at a cost of $2.6 million.

About $900,000 will come from the federal government and the rest from the city.

Public transit director Angela Allain said bus ridership has been growing steadily in the post-pandemic era.

“If we don’t have reliable equipment, this could impact our service levels in the future. We have a lot of buses under repair so vehicle downtime is what we’re worried about because of the age of the equipment.”

Allain noted how the number of boardings really jumped last September (over 180,000) when students returned to in-person classes.

“2022 was trending really well all year. But once post-secondary institutions opened, we were seeing a lot of growth there. Also, a lot of newcomers are utilizing transit every day.”

The new diesel buses are 30 percent more fuel efficient than the vehicles they are replacing which will enable a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions according to a city staff report.

The City of Moncton is currently completing a zero emissions bus study.

Allain told city council that it could take 10 to 15 years to transition to electric buses.