SAN DIEGO,
Calif.—Premier Gary Doer congratulated Winnipeg-based New Flyer Industries
on a new partnership initiative that will see buses manufactured using
new technology designed to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
A business consortium including
New Flyer Industries, ISE Corporation and SunLine Transit announced they
will be receiving $9 million from the United States Federal Transit Administration
(FTA) for two new projects involving hydrogen and fuel-cell buses.
“Whether it is diminishing coastline
here in California or struggling polar bears in northern Manitoba, the
effects of climate change are being felt on both sides of the border,”
Doer said. “I would like to congratulate New Flyer and its
partners on taking this challenge head on and showing leadership in developing
new technologies and manufacturing transit buses that will benefit both
the environment and our economy.”
New Flyer Industries employs 1,800
Manitobans in Winnipeg and makes some of North America’s most energy-efficient
buses. To date, New Flyer Industries has put more than 2,200 buses on the
roads of California including those in San Diego and Los Angeles.
The two new initiatives announced
today include $6 million in FTA funding to develop a hydrogen fuel-cell
electric bus for Washington, D.C. This project will be done in conjunction
with ISE, a California company that makes hybrid engines.
In addition, the two companies,
along with SunLine Transit, received $3 million to develop advanced fuel-cell
buses for the hot desert climate of Thousand Palms, Calif.
Today’s announcement also showcased
some of New Flyer and ISE’s latest products. Their hydrogen hybrid
internal-combustion engine powered bus is now in the final stages of development.
Cold weather tested in Winnipeg, it is now in operation by SunLine Transit
in Thousand Palms.
Doer joined Manitoba’s trade mission
to California today in San Diego, where he made the announcement with New
Flyer Industries and its partners.
The California mission, Manitoba’s
largest within North America, includes more than 45 representatives from
25 different companies and institutions. It concludes in Los Angeles on
Friday.
California is one of Manitoba’s
top export markets while Manitoba is one of California’s five best Canadian
markets. Two-way trade between the jurisdictions totalled $557 million
in 2005. The goal of the mission is to further promote business between
the two, with a special focus on areas of common interest such as climate
change and biotechnology.
While here, the premier will also
be speaking to the World Trade Centre on the importance of doing business
with Canada.
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