Liberal, Wealthy Enclave Wastes Close to $200 Million on Electric Buses

Michael Schwarz at The Gateway Pundit brings us a story of Virtue Signalling Gone awry. School District Turns to Diesel After Attempt to Convert Bus Fleet to Electric Proves Disastrous

Montgomery County, Maryland is listed as the 3rd-wealthiest county in Maryland. Sixty percent of the vote in 2020 went to President Biden. Limousine Liberals, in other words.

In 2021 the school district in Montgomery County signs a contract to replace 326 diesel school buses with electric school buses. They agreed to spend $168,684,990.

Alas, [Megan Limarzi, Inspector General of Montgomery County, Maryland] found that the electric bus contractor “did not deliver any of the buses expected in FY2022 through FY2024 by August 1st as required by the agreement’s delivery schedule.”

Nor will the contractor meet said delivery goal for the 2024-25 school year.

Because of the non-delivery of the busses, or non-completion of the terms of the contract, the school board should have assessed penalty fees. But they didn't do that, presumably because they are all about signalling virtue, and not about fiscal responsibility.

Furthermore, MCPS ignored the electric buses’ chronic mechanical failures.

“Mechanical and/or charging infrastructure issues resulted in buses not being able to run routes on more than 280 instances from February 10, 2022, through March 31, 2024,” Limarzi wrote.

So the touted, "electric vehicles are more reliable" scam continues.

Meanwhile, MCPS has spent another $14,749,919 on 90 diesel buses to cover the shortfall. Thus, in light of the original purchase, the total cost to taxpayers has approached $200 million.

The school board didn't hold the bus company accountable for non-delivery of busses. They ignored the mechanical problems with the busses, and just spent more money to cover up the problems, by buying more diesel busses.

Meanwhile, taxpayers must pay their taxes — at the point of a gun if necessary. That is tragicomic liberalism on parade.

Life in a liberal enclave has very little to do with reality, especially when that enclave is as wealthy as Montgomery County.