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February 29, 2008
Inferior Zero-Emission Buses Cost 32 Times as Much to Operate as Diesel
Posted by Dave Blount at February 29, 2008 7:04 AM
This should give you an idea of the scale of waste entailed in the global warming farce. In an $18 million state-mandated pilot project, the (Silicon) Valley Transportation Authority tested zero-emission buses and found the following:
Zero-emission buses — or ZEBs — cost $51.66 to fuel, maintain and operate per mile compared with just $1.61 for a 40-foot conventional diesel coach. They break down much more frequently, and replacement parts are next to impossible to order[…] Although the cost of a new hydrogen-fuel-cell bus has fallen from about $3.5 million to $2.5 million, a diesel coach costs about $400,000. And ZEBs have on average traveled 1,100 miles before needing repairs in the VTA trial, while a typical diesel bus covers about 6,000 miles.
You would think, in a democracy, this would inspire the bureaucrats to back off from the preposterous ZEB boondoggle, before they get run out of town on a rail.
But the California Air Resources Board is poised next year to launch a $36 million second phase of the hydrogen program, adding 12 more buses in the Bay Area and expanding it to include Golden Gate Transit.
Analifa Bevan with CARB said her agency "is not considering any changes," pointing out that the VTA experiment involves early prototypes and that the next generation of buses will be more reliable and "cheaper to operate than diesel."
Sure they will. Apparently Analifa assumes that if the peasants will believe incandescent light bulbs cause global warming, they'll swallow absolutely anything.
A rolling black hole for taxpayers' money.
Hat tip: Interested-Participant, on a tip from Burning Hot.
