South Florida's fleet of electric buses cost $126 million. Only a few are still running

Miami Herald

20-02-2025

Miami-Dade and Broward spent $126 million to purchase 117 electric buses and build charging stations for the new clean, green fleet. It was a forward-thinking solution intended to save South Florida money and cut back on fossil fuel buses that spew pollution and contribute to climate change and health problems.
Today, few of the EV buses remain on the road.
Most broke down in under a year, pulled from routes while awaiting a backlog of maintenance work. Adding to repair headaches, Proterra — the California-based company that manufactured the buses — has since filed for bankruptcy, leaving the counties with a parts shortage and a bunch of vehicles they've been unable to fix.
How badly have the EV fleets short-circuited? In Miami-Dade, depending on the day, only five to seven of the county's 75 EV buses are in service. In Broward, none of Broward's fleet of 42 EVs buses managed to run routes earlier this month.
'We put a bus into service when we know it will perform reliably,' Coree Cuff Lonergan, Broward's director of transportation, told the Miami Herald. 'And with the EVs that doesn't happen often.'
In a filing included in Proterra's bankruptcy filing, Broward reported that the EV buses broke down every 600 miles — more than seven times as frequently as the county's aging diesel fleet, which typically needs maintenance every 4,500 miles.
It's not just South Florida where the Proterra buses have been plagued by problems. Batteries are freezing up in Chicago. Austin is storing its entire fleet in a garage. Ashville couldn't get the parts to fix a broken door. And the Biden administration recalled hundreds of them for risks of catching on fire.
No parts, no repairs
The most pressing problem is a shortage of parts, both counties say.
'It's like let's say Apple went out of business — If your iPhone breaks down, you might be able to get it fixed with a third-party company but if it's glitching and a software issue you're probably out of luck because the only person who could fix it would be Apple,' said Matt Lichtash, a New York-based principal consultant for electric transportation at PA Consulting.
Proprietary technology in the buses poses another complication. Not just any mechanic can fix them or debug software systems. That isn't just a problem for South Florida or American EV fleets. When one EV startup shutdown in China, drivers could no longer access an app that controlled the locks and AC or even see the mileage and battery status on the dashboard.
A new company called Phoenix EV purchased Proterra's transit bus manufacturing business in Feb. 2024 , which includes 1,200 EV buses delivered across North America.
Phoenix did not return calls or emails from The Herald but in press releases last year signaled it was prepared to address the backlog of repairs and parts. 'We have already identified attractive growth opportunities as we add transit buses to our product offering and we look forward to servicing Proterra Transit's existing customers and developing long-term relationships with them.'
But it will be the first time the company, which manufacturers medium-duty vehicles, has taken on heavy-duty buses. And Broward, for one, has doubts about the supply chain. The majority of the county's buses have been waiting for more than a year on parts and pending warranty service. In Proterra's bankruptcy filing, Broward's county attorneys wrote, 'Phoenix lacks the financial capability to perform on its contracts, especially the warranty provisions.'
The EV buses were significant purchases, paid for mainly with transportation sales taxes with the help of state and federal grants. Miami-Dade, where the tax is a half penny, spent $72 million for 75 buses. Broward, which charges a full penny, contracted to pay $54 million for 42 buses.
Phoenix has taken some steps to retain business with the counties. The Anaheim-based company agreed to extend the warranty of all 75 of Miami-Dade's buses and reduced the price of 13 of Broward's buses by $100,000, a discount of $1.3 million. But Broward still owes money for 11 of the buses pending delivery and the county has serious concerns with the company's 'empty promises.' The county's transit department said they're refusing their arrival.
'We're more than skeptical,' Longeran said. 'We're not paying for something that doesn't work.'
Currently the graveyard of EV buses is spread between three bus yards in Miami-Dade and two facilities in Broward.
On Wednesday morning, Miami-Dade's transportation department showed the Herald the EV buses parked at the Coral Way Maintenance Facility. While other buses at the facility were heading out for the day, or getting paint touch ups in the garage, the 17 EV buses were parked in the back corner.
None of them were plugged into the Proterra chargers. One had its hood left open revealing its battery and other components. On the side of each was a sticker that said 'your half penny at work.'
An industry in its infancy
EV buses are a nascent industry — there are only about 6,000 electric buses around the U.S. and 1000 of those are school buses, said Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James, an investment banking company that has looked into energy-related industries for 20 years.
'Making an electric bus is not rocket science but the adoption curve has been slow, and the number one reason is they're expensive. When the entire supply chain isn't developed, it can be difficult to get parts and services,' Molchanov said.
Proterra apparently wasn't prepared for the potential potholes the business would face. The company's quarterly financial filings for 2023 reveal the company lost money on each bus that was sold.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) passed under former President Joe Biden earmarked $5.6 billion for electric bus grants.
Stan Cross, electric transportation director with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said a primary intention of the federal funding was to reinvest in American manufacturing to be able to build out a durable supply chain for electric vehicles and batteries.
'I think it's a recognized challenge that needs to be solved,' Cross said. 'These maintenance issues with legacy Proterra transit buses are problematic for the cities dealing with them. Still, from a market perspective, they are bumps in the road to electrification we can learn from.'
But it's not clear how the program will continue under the Trump administration, which has already cut the Biden administration's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Pit stop not a dead end
For now, the plan to electrify the fleet is technically in place in both counties.
But the transportation director of Broward said the experience has them interested in exploring other avenues for greener, cleaner transportation. Broward hired a team of engineers who will complete an assessment on the electric buses that will be ready in a year to determine what the options are moving forward.
Miami said it participates in a parts-sharing program with bus maintenance professionals across the country that discuss the Proterra fleet issues and opportunities for the transit properties to swap parts.
The arguments for EVs remain the same, particularly when it means phasing out older, dirty diesels. Researchers at Harvard found that each school bus may save up to $247,600 in climate and health benefits per bus from air pollution.
And they're just better, said Preston Gilyard, who has driven buses for 12 years in Miami-Dade. While he doesn't get to drive them often, when they work, the electric buses are, 'the top of the line.'
'The braking, the acceleration, it's a better ride and it's a lot quieter,' Gilyard said. 'It's like the Cadillac of the fleet.'
And some cities that went with other manufacturers have had better luck. Hallandale Beach, the first South Florida city to offer zero-emission rides on its entire fleet, bought from BYD, a company founded in 2003 in China.
The replacement of Hallandale's five gas-fueled shuttle buses with nine EV buses has cut wait times in half and expanded routes. The buses, which have been on the road for 10 months now, have undergone routine maintenance repairs under warranty, but are all still fully operational, Aimee Adler Cooke, a spokesperson for the City of Hallandale Beach said.
READ MORE: This city has South Florida's first fully electric bus fleet. You can ride for free
In 2024 the The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) acknowledged in an online meeting the challenges with four major bus companies declaring bankruptcy or leaving the market. They have since updated their guidelines on purchasing buses as a result of this, which includes revised payment structures.
Miami-Dade said it took those guidelines into consideration when purchasing 100 electric buses from New Flyer, a Canadian bus manufacturer. So far, 17 have been delivered and can be charged in the existing stations that went into the ground for the Proterra fleet.
Many of those New Flyer buses will be used to operate the Department's new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service along the South Miami-Dade Transit Way, which will open later this year as the longest battery electric BRT system in the nation at 20 miles, the transportation department said.
'New Flyer is one of the oldest bus makers and has a stellar reputation across its vehicle lines,' Luis Espinoza, spokesperson for the transportation department wrote to the Herald.
READ MORE: What is the South Dade Transit Way? Will buses be faster?
New Flyer is a manufacturer Miami-Dade is familiar with. The county also bought 560 New Flyer renewable gas buses to phase out their diesel fleet.
New Flyer also has reduced the number of parts on their new battery enclosure design by 90% going from 250 to less than 50 parts. The idea is a bus with fewer parts should be easier to fix.
Miami-Dade insists that the parked EVs do not effect the bus schedule or routes.
But in 2021, Robert Villar, who at the time was Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works director of finance and budgeting, said to Miami Today that the EV buses will, 'especially be distributed to undeserved communities.'
Wendell Morrison, a Liberty City resident who has taken the bus for as long as he can remember, said regardless of the reason, fewer buses on the road is a problem.
'It's not fair,' Morrison who was taking the Route 77 bus north on Tuesday said. 'The elderly can't get to the stops. It's hot. Nobody listens.'
This climate report is funded by the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Family Foundation in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald retains editorial control of all content.