Guelph police getting hybrid vehicles because ‘it is the right thing to do’

Guelph police go green with hybrid vehicles From CTV Kitchener: Roughly 60,000 litres of fuel will be saved by 2023 as the Guelph Police Service transition to hybrid vehicles.

Over the next few years, the Guelph Police Service will be reducing its carbon footprint in a big way.

The force announced Thursday that it would be making a transition to hybrid vehicles for its marked cruisers.

“We are making this commitment because it is the right thing to do,” says Chief Gord Cobey in a press release.

The transition will take place over the next three years and won’t increase the fleet budget or related costs, the press release says.

Guelph is a city known for being green: in the provincial election, it elected Ontario’s first-ever Green Party MPP in Mike Schreiner.

Late last month, the city council also announced $700,000 in funding to support Guelph’s 100 per cent renewable energy target over five years.

With those things in mind, it makes sense that the city’s police force would take active steps toward reducing fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

Specifically, a handout indicates yearly estimated fuel savings of about 60,000 litres and reduction of carbon dioxide of about 750,000 lbs by 2023.

The move is also expected to extend the life of police vehicles.