I came 3000 miles to meet a very classy lady. And she didn’t disappoint. This lady is worth a fortune. 2.2 million, if I understand correctly. And she belongs to a very exclusive family of only 20 members.
Now, you can’t rush a lady, so I got her warmed up slowly before I finally got her going. But then I was worried that I had done something wrong as she was still very quiet.
Then I walked around her slowly checking her out. What form, what grace! She represents the future, but here she was with me now. I took a few photos of us together, and she didn’t complain.
Then the moment of truth came and we headed down the road together. She was not like the others I’ve known, but very quiet and smooth. Sure, she was just a bit top-heavy, but that was fine by me. What a privilege to be entrusted with such a fine example of what a bus should be like.
Fuel Cell bus #1002 that I drove today
I’m talking about the Fuel Cell buses we are driving here in Whistler, of course. What did you think? These buses are made by New Flyer, and have a Ballard Fuel Cell power plant that generates electricity from compressed Hydrogen tanks on the roof. The drive is 100% electric, with the retarder regenerating electricity when you let off on the throttle. The front right seats hide a $100,000 Lithium Ion battery pack that actually feed the motors.
Controls of the Fuel Cell bus are just like a regular bus. The only indication that the bus has started is that the battery light goes out.
They can run all day on a full charge of Hydrogen. The Hydrogen fuelling station is the largest in the world. In fact, the Whistler Transit fleet of 20 Fuel Cell buses is the largest Hydrogen fleet in the world. Whistler is currently involved in a five-year pilot project to test and develop hydrogen technology in a real world environment. Together with Ballard, and support from all levels of government, they hope to become world leaders in Hydrogen technology.
Photo of a happy camper. It is worth coming way out here just to be able to drive the future now.
When you first drive a Fuel Cell bus, you do have to make some adjustments to your driving habits. Almost all of the braking is done by backing off on the throttle and using the retarder. I drove around some downhill switchbacks without ever touching the brakes. But if you do step on the brakes, it can stop very suddenly. All the brakes are disk brakes, and is one of the most advanced braking systems in the industry. The trick is to never stomp on the brakes or you will have people going through the window.
The Fuel Cell buses look the same on the inside. The bench seats on the left of this photo hide the Lithium Ion batteries. The are supposed to last 8 years.
Take off also takes a bit of practice. From park, you have to do a full brake application, and then just feather the throttle to release the interlock brake and engage the electric motors. If you stomp the throttle to the floor as you usually do a diesel, the acceleration can throw people who are in their ski boots to the floor. Once you are pass 10 km/hr, the acceleration is strong but very smooth. No shifting gears in this beauty.
Buses must be plugged in at night or the cells will freeze up.
Hill climbing is another matter. The factory decided to back the power off, as going up a hill can consume a lot of energy. Currently they are set in Mode 3, which restricts your speed going up hills. It can go up to Mode 5, which is like a sports car mode, and would just be too peppy for the riding public.
Reto Swaniga also got to drive a Fuel Cell bus today.
One of my fellow drives, Dennis, had his Fuel Cell bus malfunction, so he had to take it back to the yard after several restarts. If the Ballard power plant does shut down, you can still drive your bus on battery power to a safe location. My bus gave me a Check System light, so I restarted, and it was fine. Overall, several of the new Fuel Cell buses are usually in the shop as the technology is constantly being adjusted. The latest hurdle that was cleared was the computer system. It had been obstructing the filling of all six hydrogen tanks, and only filling four. That has now been solved, but they are still dealing with other issues. It seems this technology doesn’t like damp weather. They expect it will be another six months before the whole fleet is on the road every day.
Des Fitzgerald and Steve Mann
A local driver told me that the Fuel Cell buses were very good in the snow. The retarder system seemed to improve traction. Overall, the reaction of the drivers is mixed. I think some operators just want the old proven technology without having to worry about the 21 onboard computers getting into an argument and shutting the bus down. But so far my only breakdown was on a Nova bus. Give me a Hydrogen bus any day.
Well, enough about advanced technology. After doing the route 3 and 4 on the new bus all morning, I had a three-hour split. I finally met Steve Mann, our GRT mechanic, in the lunch room. After answering some of his blogging questions, he uploaded one of his photos onto the blog.
Then I had a discussion with the lovely HR lady, Victoria Wood. She was concerned about some misleading stats one of the GRT bloggers had posted. I adjusted his blog for accuracy, and everyone was happy again. She even let me take her photo with the other HR lady, Sue Warner. I have to say, I believe it is their super positive and helpful personalities that account for Whistler making their quota of drivers. What a pleasure to finally get to meet them in person.
From L to R: Victoria Wood, John A., Sue Warner. Classy HR ladies.
Victoria also told me that GRT is the second largest contributor to Whistler Transit. We have 16 members here, while Mississauga has 22 members. Since they are almost triple our size, I am rather pleased with our contribution. Everyone here knows what GRT means.
After lunch I picked up a regular old diesel bus to do route 6. The Hydrogen buses only go on route 3 and 4, and stay in Whistler. Just before I arrived at the Gondola Exchange, the supervisor reassigned me to do the Special route, which is the shuttle between the two terminals. They are only about a kilometre apart, so a complete trip was only about 8 minutes. It was load and go for 3 ½ hours. A bit boring.
There was blimp hovering over the Whistler Mountain today. It was tethered about a 1000 feet up, but no one knew what it was for. I think it is a media blimp for TV cameras. There was light rain today, but the skiers say it was snowing on top of the mountain. I met Steve Huebner returning from skiing and he said that it was best described as “big.” He also said that Blackhorn Mountain was a bit foggy. I hope it clears tomorrow, as I want to do the Peak to Peak gondola ride.
Is this a media blimp? It was hanging over the ski slopes about a thousand feet up.