Minot City Transit is considering the purchase of its first hybrid diesel/electric bus.

The department’s request for $1 million in the city’s 2025 budget for a hybrid bus prompted questions at the Minot City Council’s budget review Tuesday.

“We want to spend a million dollars on a hybrid electric bus when we made $75,000 last year in revenue off our public transit?” council member Rob Fuller asked. “What are the costs versus buying just a brand new diesel bus that would operate like the other buses up here? Can our mechanic that we currently have work on the electric bus as well as the other buses?”

Brian Horinka, transit director, explained that although diesel buses cost $650,000-$700,000, hybrid and electric buses are the trend nationwide because of the federal government’s push for low and no emission services.

“I am not prepared to go into the full electric bus right now. I don’t think that’s been explored enough here in our environment to go that route, but I do think that we maybe could start looking that direction by dipping our toes in the water with a hybrid-type bus. The money for those buses are much easier to acquire the way federal government has set up the grants,” Horinka said.

He said the federal government reimburses 85% of costs for capital purchases.

Horinka added that income from riders is inconsequential in the calculation because 60% of income comes from federal and state sources.

“I know to some of the general public, it appears that we’re not being used. But one thing you have to realize is the people that are using our buses are using because they need it,” he said. “What we do is extremely important to the community and to those that need it. That’s why there’s all these federal programs to help with that. And I think it would be a disservice to the community if we started to try to cut that.”

Minot transit provided 80,000 rides in 2023, he said.

Horinka noted some public transit systems do not charge fares, which can increase ridership.

“I would like to explore that over the next couple of years because the amount of money we collect in fares has no bearing on the amount of money coming in from the government, but in some cases ridership does, especially our senior/disabled ridership. Those numbers help drive more state income,” he said.

Public meetings set on city budget

The City of Minot will hold virtual information sessions to answer public questions on the preliminary 2025 budget from Aug. 14-16.

The discussion will focus on city public works and engineering on Wednesday, Aug. 14; public safety staff on Thursday, Aug. 15; and general government on Friday, Aug. 16. All meetings begin at noon on social media.

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 16, at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall.