How Austin BLEW $255 MILLION in Electric Bus FIASCO

[@daothientoan]

The channel is expanding with more info about the city, nice

[@SFSCharles]

Thanks for noticing and I hope I can bring topics that you find useful.

[@jeffpiatt3879]

Most of the Austin busses were CNG (compressed natural gas) before electric busses. These were reasonably reliable and quite clean in operation. A former Austin Radio Host named Jeff Ward said it best- "Never give money to Capitol Metro." Their train "The Hill Country Failure" (flyer) is another great example of waste. At any time there are less than 10 people on that train.

[@SFSCharles]

Thank you for sharing the info. It's important to have open discussions about public transportation and its impact on our community. Your insights are appreciated!

[@Neziavothal]

A town in canada tried this and suffered a similar disaster. The buses are also all but impossible to repair since only one company makes them

[@SFSCharles]

Thank you for sharing your insights! It's can be helpful to learn from the experiences of others, but if cities don't learn from the experiences of other cities, they'll repeat the same mistakes.

[@apileofrocks5142]

It's just nuts to move away from CNG in one of the few great applications it has, so that highly impractical batteries and electric motors can take their place. The advantages of moving from diesel or gasoline to CNG are already great for eco-minded people, and even better for engine longevity. If it's your money as a private person or business, you should do what you want. However, this is everyone's money - you shouldn't be so wasteful.

[@SFSCharles]

It’s baffling that so many examples of things like this but when it comes time to vote, so few people turn out

[@joeyg2860]

The road wear caused by these idiotic buses would be even worse if there were actual passengers on board.

[@SFSCharles]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! It's always eye-opening to consider the impact of public transport on our infrastructure.

[@jeffpiatt3879]

Especially, considering the porky chicks that seem to predominate the population of downtown Austin.

[@Listen966]

What to say

[@SFSCharles]

Thanks for watching

[@dustinoneal3601]

predictable . what angers me living here is that we *think* we are a bastion of modern ideas but city leadership is idealistic (and naive). that combination could kill the city.

[@SFSCharles]

They'll keep doing what they have been doing until they either run out of money or more people turn out for the elections.

[@Hybridog]

Electric busses are used in many cities around the world. You just have to buy the right brand. The problem in the US, and particularly in "wrapped in the flag" Texas, is the poor optics of buying a non-North American made product for almost anything. Pretty confidant that Volvo, BYD (Chinese), Daimler (German) and others could have provided busses and the parts needed without issue. These companies all have way more experience designing and building electric busses than any of the US based companies. Agree it would have been better to move more slowly on this, but I also think it would be good to someday have an all electric or maybe hydrogen based bus fleet - or a mix of the two.

[@SFSCharles]

You make some valid points! It's interesting to see how different countries are approaching the transition to electric buses. A balanced mix of options could definitely be the way forward.

[@OliverHarrington]

I love watching _real estate agents_ and the laymen in the comment section trying to explain civil engineering subjects. Everything’s just a scandal, isn’t it?

[@uumlau]

"Looks good on paper". Shyeah, right. It looks good while you're smoking weed, and that's it: "Duuude! I just had a great idea ..." "What, man?" "What if .... hcf hcf ... um, what if, like all the busses was electric, man?" "Woah, you mean like electric electric?" "Yeah. Duh! What other kind of electric is there?" "Let's do it! We could like install video games on them. Those run on electricity, right?" "Ooo, I hadn't thought of that!" (The real problem with Austin isn't so much the liberalism as it's a huge, rich city with a small-town government. It's essentially an extremely large HOA, with the typical tyrannically autocratic powers that come with that bastardization of government.)

[@SFSCharles]

You've captured the essence of that conversation perfectly! That comparison to an HOA is on point too.