Transit users in Gatineau will be the first in Quebec to try out hybrid diesel-electric buses, Gatineau's public transit company says.

The Société de transport de l'Outaouais announced Thursday that two of the buses, which run on a combination of electric battery power and diesel fuel, will begin carrying transit riders in a matter of weeks as part of a two-year, $8.3-million pilot project funded by all three levels of government.

The buses will be compared to regular diesel buses to determine how much lower their greenhouse gas emissions are, and they will serve a section of bus Routes 67 and 77 following Gréber, Fournier and Maisonneuve boulevards to the Portage Bridge.

The pilot project is being run jointly with the Société de transport de Montréal, which will begin its own hybrid transit bus tests toward the end of 2007, a news release said.

The hybrid buses are made by the St. Eustache, Que.-based Nova Bus, a Volvo subsidiary.