The company Calgary ordered its electric buses from for a pilot project has gone tits up without delivering a single bus after years of waiting.
A comms flack from the mayor's office has finally addressed the issue somewhat by saying the city dropped the contact with Vicinity "earlier this year" when it realized the buses are never coming. Earlier this year is a way to sugarcoat saying a few weeks ago. At the end of August even, the city website still just said it was waiting for Vicinity to deliver despite some "supply chain" issues.
On the bright side, the city says they never gave any money to Vicinity.
On the downside, the city spent a lot to build charging stations for buses that don't exist. They haven't disclosed how much has been lost there.
Further, the city is saying it is sourcing more electric buses for a pilot despite the first pilot being a total failure.
The city also plans to spend nearly half a billion on electric buses despite the pilot's failure and is keeping taxpayers in the dark.
How much has been spent?
Has a new supplier been identified?
Electric bus programs and companies are failing all over North America. The machines are trash and aren't ready for use. The motivation to purchase them is ideological.
Calgary shouldn't be spending a single penny more on this boondoggle.
There should be full disclosure of where this scandalous program is so far, and an open debate on if it should continue. A civic election is a year away.
If Calgarians want to gamble with unproven electric buses, they can vote to do so.
The secrecy and waste should lead to heads rolling. Instead, the Gondek gang is going full speed ahead.
A comms flack from the mayor's office has finally addressed the issue somewhat by saying the city dropped the contact with Vicinity "earlier this year" when it realized the buses are never coming. Earlier this year is a way to sugarcoat saying a few weeks ago. At the end of August even, the city website still just said it was waiting for Vicinity to deliver despite some "supply chain" issues.
On the bright side, the city says they never gave any money to Vicinity.
On the downside, the city spent a lot to build charging stations for buses that don't exist. They haven't disclosed how much has been lost there.
Further, the city is saying it is sourcing more electric buses for a pilot despite the first pilot being a total failure.
The city also plans to spend nearly half a billion on electric buses despite the pilot's failure and is keeping taxpayers in the dark.
How much has been spent?
Has a new supplier been identified?
Electric bus programs and companies are failing all over North America. The machines are trash and aren't ready for use. The motivation to purchase them is ideological.
Calgary shouldn't be spending a single penny more on this boondoggle.
There should be full disclosure of where this scandalous program is so far, and an open debate on if it should continue. A civic election is a year away.
If Calgarians want to gamble with unproven electric buses, they can vote to do so.
The secrecy and waste should lead to heads rolling. Instead, the Gondek gang is going full speed ahead.
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