{"id":1880,"date":"2026-05-19T14:27:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T18:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sustainable-energy\/?p=1880"},"modified":"2026-05-19T14:27:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T18:27:01","slug":"electrifying-mass-transit-carleton-students-support-cornwalls-energy-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sustainable-energy\/2026\/electrifying-mass-transit-carleton-students-support-cornwalls-energy-transition\/","title":{"rendered":"Electrifying Mass Transit: Carleton Students Support Cornwall\u2019s Energy Transition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Electrifying Mass Transit: Carleton Students Support Cornwall\u2019s Energy Transition\n <\/h1>\n \n \n <\/header>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

Students in Carleton University\u2019s SERG 5005: Applied Interdisciplinary Project<\/em> recently presented the results of their capstone project, Electrifying Mass Transit in Cornwall<\/em>, to senior city and transit officials in Cornwall, Ontario. The project was completed by Abdulrahman Alsayed (MEng\u2013Sustainable Energy Engineering), Amanda Gutzke (MPP\u2013Sustainable Energy Policy), and Vedika Chandran (MPP\u2013Sustainable Energy Policy).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The capstone project was developed in close engagement with Cornwall\u2019s municipal and transit staff and aimed to support the city\u2019s longer\u2011term energy transition planning. Early in the project, the students conducted a site visit in Cornwall, allowing them to ground their analysis in the realities of the transit system, depot layout, and daily operations. This visit enabled the team to identify potential charging locations and validate assumptions that would later underpin their technical and economic assessments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building on this applied foundation, the students examined how Cornwall could transition its existing diesel and gasoline bus fleet to battery electric buses. Three potential pathways were evaluated: full electrification by 2040, delayed electrification by 2049, and a business\u2011as\u2011usual scenario with no adoption of battery electric buses. The analysis integrated technical feasibility, economic and environmental impacts, social considerations, and risk and mitigation strategies, resulting in a set of actionable recommendations for the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The technical analysis assessed whether battery electric buses could meet Cornwall\u2019s current route requirements under real\u2011world conditions, including winter operations. Most routes were found to be suitable for electrification, with targeted operational strategies identified for more demanding routes. The students also outlined the infrastructure upgrades required at the Cornwall Transit depot, including garage modifications necessary to accommodate charging equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economic analysis focused on the net present costs of each pathway from 2026 to 2040, distinguishing between capital and operating costs. While electrification was associated with higher upfront capital investments, the team identified substantial long\u2011term savings from reduced fuel and maintenance expenses \u2013 costs that would need to be borne by the municipality should it delay electrification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis project shows what students are able to accomplish when they engage directly with real infrastructure, operational constraints, and policy trade\u2011offs faced by decision-makers,\u201d said Professor Daniel Rosenbloom<\/a>, Ivey Research Chair in Sustainability Transitions and Program Supervisor for the Master of Public Policy – Sustainable Energy and the Environment<\/a>. \u201cThis is precisely how we design our program: experiential, action\u2011oriented, and focused on producing analysis that can inform real decision\u2011making.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project culminated in a formal presentation to senior city and transit staff, with the team\u2019s analysis feeding into ongoing municipal planning discussions. City staff indicated that the findings would help inform the development of Cornwall\u2019s forthcoming master plan, particularly with respect to long\u2011term transit investment. The project illustrates how applied, interdisciplinary student research can contribute meaningfully to real-world decision\u2011making by providing timely, evidence\u2011based analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"SERG5005\"
From left to right: Heather Hayne (co-instructor for SERG5005), Jesse Good (Chair of the city\u2019s climate change and environment committee), Vedika Chandran, Amanda Gutzke, Abdulrahman Alsayed, Maurice Rozon (transit maintenance supervisor), and James Levert (transit shift training supervisor)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students in Carleton University\u2019s SERG 5005: Applied Interdisciplinary Project recently presented the results of their capstone project, Electrifying Mass Transit in Cornwall, to senior city and transit officials in Cornwall, Ontario. The project was completed by Abdulrahman Alsayed (MEng\u2013Sustainable Energy Engineering), Amanda Gutzke (MPP\u2013Sustainable Energy Policy), and Vedika Chandran (MPP\u2013Sustainable Energy Policy). The capstone project […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":1881,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sustainable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sustainable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sustainable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sustainable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sustainable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1880"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sustainable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1882,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sustainable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1880\/revisions\/1882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sustainable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sustainable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sustainable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sustainable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}