TeamOPTA 2026

It’s that time of year for Ontario Transportation Expo (OTE) Exhibitors to claim their spot for the OTE Trade Show on Tuesday April 14, 2026.

Please reach out to info@ote.ca today if you have any questions.

Inaugural ZEB User Conference at OTE 2026

Participants will hear from transit leaders and technical experts through sessions covering:

  • Safety and Training: hazards, mitigation strategies, emergency procedures, and role-based training requirements
  • New Technology and Technical Training: preparing operators, mechanics, dispatchers, and supervisors for new ZEB systems
  • Operational Readiness: charging infrastructure, service planning, maintenance strategies, and change management

The OPTA ZEB User Conference is unlike anything the Ontario transit sector has seen before. For just $150, you’ll have a seat in the room with every major Ontario transit agency that has deployed ZEBs, is waiting on delivery, or is deep in planning. This day is for executives, planners, fleet and facility experts, trainers, and engineers.

  • đź’˛ OTE 2026 Full conference registration or $150 Wednesday Day Rate
  • đź“Ť Delta Hotels Toronto Airport & Conference Centre | International AB
  • đź“… Wednesday, April 15, 2026
  • ⏰ 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM

ZEB User Conference Program Details

8:00 – 8:30 AM
 
Winnipeg Transit: What to Expect When You’re Expecting an eBus
Moderator: Karen Cameron
Speaker: Erin Cooke – Winnipeg Transit
 
Sponsor:
 
Congratulations, you’ve just learned you’re expecting Zero-emission buses now what? This presentation highlights lessons learned from a first time ZEB procurement. This presentation will appeal to transit agencies who are just starting to plan their ZEB journey, but will include unique insight that may be of interest to any transit agency procuring ZEBs, as Winnipeg Transits procurement of 60ft ZEBs and both battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell buses at the same time is unique in Canada.
 
Winnipeg Transit will be putting its first 16 zero-emission buses into service this year, but planning for this began back in 2022. In this session Winnipeg Transit go over the steps in its ZEB procurement journey from planning procurement to putting the buses in-service. We will share lessons we’ve learned while trying to integrate 4 different types of ZEBs and keeping 27-year old buses in service while waiting for them to arrive. Our journey has including while navigating unprecedented price escalations, productions delays following the Covid-19 pandemic, the near collapse of a seating supplier, further delays resulting OEM fiscal recovery, as well as, unexpected changes to planned charging and hydrogen infrastructure.
 
This presentation will highlight:
  • Key decisions point in the bus procurement process;
  • New contract terms to consider in ZEB contracts including milestones and LDs as well as training, tooling;
  • Adapting APTA Whitebook Battery electric specs for your transit agency;
  • Developing technical specs for fuel cell buses without APTA whitebook guidance;
  • Prepared staff in advance of the arrival of the buses;
  • Training technicians to service and maintain the buses.
  • Impacts of ZEB manufacturing delays;
  • Contingences for infrastructure delays;
  • The importance of in-factory inspectors;
  • Escalations of quality and delivery issues; and
  • What we would do differently.
Hopefully hearing about our journey will help others prepare for the arrival of their own new ZEBs.
 
Key take-aways
  1.  ZEB procurement creates a number of new challenges for transit agencies, and it is important to include new technical and contractual terms in your contract to minimize operational and financial risk.
  2. Trying to align bus and infrastructure procurements can be challenging, but transit agencies can learn from those that have gone before them and better prepare for these challenges

Its important to celebrate the arrival of your new ZEBs and prepare for the next steps to come.

3. Its important to celebrate the arrival of your new ZEBs and prepare for the next steps to come.

8:30 – 9:30 AM

ZEB User Conference – Session 1: Safety & Training Review

Sponsor:
 
Speakers
 
1. Sam Farhangi – Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)
Electric Bus Hazards on a Normal Day (HIRA and MOL Lessons Learned)
 
2. Dave W. Partington – TOK Group
PPE, SOPs and Process Flow Documents
 
3. Omar Rasheed – Metrolinx
De-Energizing Documentation
 
4. Mike Macas – Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)
Thermal Events Task Force Guidelines and Lessons Learned from False Alarms
 
5. Naeem Farooqi – FleetZero
The Physical Shop – Quarantine Zones
 
We begin with safety because zero‑emission technology has changed the nature of the work. High‑voltage systems, charging interfaces, de‑energizing procedures, thermal events, and the interaction between the vehicle and the facility introduce conditions that are fundamentally different from diesel operations.
 
Our panelists will share what they learned through hands‑on experience—what needed to be updated, clarified, or completely re‑thought to support safe day‑to‑day interaction with this new equipment.
 
You’ll hear lessons learned about:
– Lockout/tagout programs that evolved once vehicles were on the property
– Standard operating procedures that needed refinement during early deployment
– Expanded PPE expectations for everyday tasks
– How teams handled thermal events when they occurred
– Charging equipment considerations that influenced maintenance and operations workflows
 
This session sets the foundation for the whole day. Before anyone drives, services, dispatches, or plugs in a bus, we need the right procedures and practices in place to support a safe working environment.
 
This is the first chapter in the day‑in‑the‑life of a ZEB:
preparing people to work safely and confidently with the technology from the moment it arrives.
preparing people to work safely and confidently with the technology from the moment it arrives.

9:45 – 10:45 AM

ZEB User Conference – Session 2: New Technology and Technical Training

 
Sponsor:
 
Speakers:
 
Speakers:
1. John Kardos – Zenobe
Charging Infrastructure Training and Supporting Systems Training
 
2. Omar Rasheed – Metrolinx
Enabling Transit Agencies to Act on Diagnostics (Diagnostics Training – Roles, Responsibilities and Impacts on the Organization)
 
3. Randy Helmer – Coast Mountain Bus
CMB Customized Training to Augment OEM Training
 
4. Randy Narine – Clean Core Research
Experience from a Fire Fighting Perspective
 
Session 1 focused on safe interaction with the equipment.
 
Session 2 focuses on how to work with the technology every day and how each role fits into the broader system.
 
Zero‑emission buses operate within a tightly connected ecosystem—vehicle, charger, facility, grid, software, and communication systems all influence one another. That means workforce preparation must span both role-specific expectations and system-wide understanding.
 
Our speakers will highlight two essential lessons learned from agencies in active deployment:
 
1. Everyone must clearly understand their role expectations
Operators, dispatchers, coach technicians, supervisors, and unskilled personnel each contribute differently to:
– charge management
– fault reporting
– thermal monitoring
– diagnostics
– SOC management
– escalation protocols
– safe handling of HV components
 
2. Everyone benefits from understanding how the whole system works
A ZEB’s performance depends on how people interact with it throughout the day—the “day‑in‑the‑life” perspective:
– how an operator’s driving style affects energy consumption
– how dispatch decisions shape charging windows
– how a coach technician’s actions affect vehicle availability
– how charger behavior impacts pull‑out confidence
– how unskilled personnel navigate safe zones and boundaries
 
Our panelists will share lessons learned about OEM training, the need for supplemental in‑house programs, collaborations with colleges, technician and apprenticeship evolution, and how early training gaps showed up in real operations.
 
This session is about building capability, clarity, and confidence—so every role supports both the vehicle and the system surrounding it.

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM

Session 3: Operationalization – From Procurement to Pull-Out

Sponsor:
 
Speakers/Presenters:
Speakers/Presenters:
1. Mike Macas – Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)
EBus Operational Lessons Learned 
 
2. Stephen Bacchus – MiWay & AnaĂŻssia Franca – CIMA+
ZEB Change Management Framework: The Case of MiWay
 
3. Ahmed Mumeni – Jacobs
Operational Readiness for Zero‑Emission Bus Fleets: Lessons Transit Can Borrow from Aviation ORAT
 
4. Andrew Cowles – Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)
Infrastructure and Commissioning Lessons Learned 
 
5. Sasha Pejcic – BetterFleet
Operationalization – Charge Management
 
 
In Session 3, we move into the phase where all earlier elements—safety, training, workforce competency—must function together under real operating conditions.
 
This is where many agencies have experienced their steepest learning curve.
Our panelists bring lessons from change management, operational readiness, infrastructure rollout, charge management software, and charging system integration.
 
They’ll speak candidly about what they encountered during actual deployments:
– commissioning challenges that were not visible during planning
– unexpected conflicts when multiple buses needed charging simultaneously
– SOC limitations affecting pull‑out and block performance
– inconsistencies between bus data and charger data
– SOPs rewritten in the early weeks of service
– cross‑departmental coordination issues
– organizational adjustments needed to support daily ZEB operations
 
This session focuses on the realities of making ZEBs work Monday to Friday, not just during pilot projects.
 
The previous sessions were about understanding the bus and the people who support it, this session is about building the organization around it.

12:30 – 1:30 PM

Sponsor:

1:30 – 3:30 PM

Session 4: Vehicle Design and Propulsion

TeamOPTA Sponsor:
 
 
Moderator: Mike Macas, TTC
 
Speakers/Presenters:
 
Moderator: Mike Macas – TTC
Speakers/Presenters:
Opening Speaker:
PowerON Energy Solutions – Tyler Seed
 
OEM Propulsion Partners
1. Nova Bus – Mike Coote and Benoit St. Cyr
2. Solaris – Julio Mayorga
3. New Flyer – Brydon Owen
4. Letenda – Nicolas Letendre
5. City View/Eldorado – Joseph D’urso
6. Damera/Karsan – Deniz Bey/Chris Pulford
 
Charging Partners
1. Simens – Ray Little (Siemens) and Sarah Balkhi (Heliox)
3. ABB – Moneeb Durrani
 
Our final session brings us to the core technologies behind zero‑emission bus operations—the engineering and system design choices that shape everything discussed throughout the day.
 
Our OEM propulsion and charging partners, along with infrastructure and energy management specialists, will share how their solutions are evolving in response to agency feedback and lessons learned from deployments across North America and internationally.
 
We will explore:
– advances in battery chemistry and energy density
– improvements in thermal management and detection technologies
– high‑voltage architecture and multiple cooling loops
– trends in CAN bus complexity and data integration
– evolution of diagnostic pathways and troubleshooting tools
– maintainability considerations and component lifecycle impacts
– interaction between vehicles, charging systems, and energy management platforms
 
Many of the operational and training challenges discussed earlier trace back to design decisions made during vehicle and charging system development. This session provides agencies with insight into how those designs are changing—and what to expect as fleets scale.
 
This session closes the loop on the day:
from working safely around the equipment, to training and operations, to understanding how system design influences daily performance and long‑term success.

3:30 – 4:00 PM

Networking and Q&A.

Mark Your Calendar

Conference: April 13 – April 15, 2026

Delta Marriott Toronto Airport – 655 Dixon Rd, Toronto

Trade Show: April 14, 2026

Toronto Congress Centre – 650 Dixon Rd, Toronto

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