Electric Bus Scam: More than two dozen electric Proterra buses first unveiled by the city of Philadelphia in 2016 are already out of operation. The entire fleet of Proterra buses was removed from the roads by SEPTA, the city's transit authority, in February 2020 due to both structural and logistical problems - the weight of the powerful battery was cracking the vehicles' chassis, and the battery life was insufficient for the city's 'easy' bus routes.

Philadelphia had placed the Proterra buses in areas where it thought they could succeed but quickly learned it was mistaken. Two pilot routes selected in South Philadelphia that were relatively short and flat compared with others in the city were too much for the electric buses. "Even those routes needed buses to pull around 100 miles each day, while the Proterras were averaging just 30 to 50 miles per charge," WHYY reporter Ryan Briggs wrote.

The city paid $24 million for the 25 new Proterra buses, subsidized in part by a $2.6 million federal grant.

Proterra had U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on its board of directors when Philadelphia pulled the buses off the streets last year. She is a staunch Democrat and is the former governor of Michigan.

Nevertheless, the company has been highlighted by the Biden administration as a business of the future. President Joe Biden visited the Proterra factory in April 2021 and pledged in his initial infrastructure package proposal to include federal money for the electric vehicle market. The company has since been touted by top officials including White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy, who in a public meeting asked Proterra's CEO how the federal government could spur demand for Proterra's (crappy) buses.

La Crosse, Wisconsin had ordered two buses from Proterra for $1.5 million in 2018. The buses have still not been delivered. Problems have been found in other cities that partnered with Proterra. Duluth, Minn., which, like Philadelphia, waited three years for its Proterra buses to be delivered, ultimately pulled its seven buses from service "because their braking systems were struggling on Duluth's hills, and a software problem was causing them to roll back when accelerating uphill from a standstill," according to the Duluth Monitor.

Randal O'Toole - the Antiplanner - noted that "Indianapolis, Albuquerque, and Duluth have all mothballed their electric buses or returned them to the manufacturers due to range and other problems. At close to a million dollars apiece, battery-powered buses cost almost exactly twice as much as Diesel buses. It so happens that the federal government will pay 80% of the cost of a Diesel bus but 90% of the cost of an electric bus, so for the transit agency, the cost of the two is identical."

And furthermore, a Proterra electric bus caught fire while charging in a southern California city that is now considering taking the electric buses off the road. Problems cited by the agency include not only the bus that caught fire in what's described as a "thermal event," but also buses that melt in the California heat and have transmission failures. Roland Cordero, the Foothill Transit agency's director of maintenance and vehicle technology, says the problems with the buses are exacerbated by Proterra's inability to help with repairs. Some of the Proterra buses have remained out of service for up to 275 days due to an inability to get replacement parts. The plastic interior panels, front wheel well cabinets, and driver bulkheads in the Proterra buses have deformed due to exposure to heat and sunlight. Foothill Transit serves the valleys surrounding Los Angeles.

As for that "thermal event," Don Surber wrote about this government-speak euphemism: "Ah, thermal events. I remember Jim Morrison singing, 'Light My Thermal Event'. And Smokey the Bear saying, "Only you can prevent forest thermal events." And of course, ready, aim, thermal event. The government never admits it is wrong until those who committed the wrong are dead."

John Hinderaker wrote that "companies like Proterra should be subject to massive consumer and securities fraud lawsuits, and maybe they will be. But political muscle goes a long way, and Proterra and its ilk are darlings of the Biden administration and the Democratic Party in general."

Philly's Route 75 line, shown in this 1957 photo, is still in operation.

The irony is that Philadelphia already has a fleet of electric buses - trolley buses (Philadelphians call them 'trackless trolleys') - which draw their power from overhead wires. Philly has had trackless trolleys in service since 1923 - almost 100 years ago. (posted 7/30/21, permalink)

The Little Transit System That Couldn't: Ambient temperatures exceeding 110 degrees caused Portland's Streetcar and Max light rail service to shut down. It seems that the overhead wires and insulators were not designed to handle the temperature expansion. It has been known for years that Portland's TriMet transit agency can't handle the heat: Whenever the temperature reaches 90 degrees, the Max trains slow down.

This is a case of incompetent design. The system also shuts down when it's cold, snowy or icy. Portland's transit agency has not figured out how to de-ice overhead wires or unfreeze icy switches - a problem solved by other transit systems over 100 years ago. Working on the Pennsylvania Railroad, my dad dealt with frozen switches all the time. His crew simply poured kerosene on them and started a fire. Ice melted; problem solved.

TriMet is the Goldilocks of public transit. It only works if it's not too hot or not to cold - everything must be "just right." Whoever designed the Max system should have his/her engineering license revoked and be sued for malpractice. The government officials who approved the system should be charged with malfeasance. (posted 7/1/21, permalink)

Slooooow Transit: Randal O'Toole wrote, "The first electric streetcars and the first internal-combustion engine automobiles were first developed just over 130 years ago. Initially, each went about 8 to 10 miles per hour. Today, people routinely drive automobiles at 70 to 80 miles per hour, and some supercars can go well over 200 miles per hour. Meanwhile, according to the American Public Transportation Association, the average speed of streetcars is a whopping 6.9 miles per hour."

Streetcars - aka trolley cars - have been obsolete since the 1920s. But cities are still building or expanding existing trolley lines because idiotic city planners think they're trendy. Streetcar lines cost taxpayers $25-50 million per mile to construct and carry relatively few passengers. Operational costs average seven times the fares charged.

Philadelphia has had trolley cars since the late 1890s and there are rails and infrastructure throughout the city (and some suburbs). Mr. O'Toole noted that Philadelphia "carried 45% of all streetcar riders in the country." But, despited in-place infrastructure and over a century of experience, fares collected cover only 39% of operating costs.

Streetcars may wow the tourists - just like they do in Europe - but cost taxpayers a bundle. That means you because, even if your city is trolleyless, most of these boondogles receive a lot of federal funding. (posted 9/10/20, permalink)

Travel Subsidies: Public transit is by far the most expensive and most heavily subsidized form of transportation in the United States. And many other countries, too. While transit fares are only a little more than the cost of driving, total transit costs average more than four times the total cost of driving.

"User costs range from 14 cents to 36 cents per passenger mile and subsidies range from under a penny to nearly 92 cents per passenger mile, for total costs of 15 cents to $1.20 per passenger mile. Amtrak is the second-most expensive form of travel, costing more than four times the average cost of air travel. The Acela, the closest thing Amtrak has to high-speed rail, is even more expensive, costing well over a dollar a passenger mile once depreciation is counted." (posted 9/24/19, permalink)

TriMet claims it's a "normal safety precaution." The light-rail system was built to run "in a mild climate with an average high of 55 degrees." When things get hot in the summer (Portland routinely experiences temperatures in the 90s every year), riders "should expect delays as TriMet reduces train speeds by 10 mph for all areas with a speed limit above 35 mph."

"TriMet is worried about copper overhead wires sagging. Since copper expands more than steel, the Max system incorporates pulleys with counterweights that tug on the wires to keep them tight. Sometimes, TriMet engineers say, things get so hot that the counterweights touch the ground and the wire starts to sag anyway." Who designed this thing anyway - the guy who did the specs for Galloping Gertie, the infamous bridge in Tacoma?

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