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Monday, January 30, 2023

Breaking: Out of 86 electric school buses in @mcps, on average only 60 are in use each day.

The Montgomery Board of Education Fiscal Management Committee met today.

On the Agenda for this committee meeting was a discussion of the MCPS electric school bus purchase.  

The entire discussion lasted 3 minutes.  There was no explanation for the bizarre agenda item from January 11, 2023, that was removed from the meeting agenda without explanation.

In today's 3 minute discussion the public learned that out of 86 electric school buses that have been received by MCPS, on average only about 60 are in use each day.

Why? 
Board members didn't ask any questions. 

Why don't Board of Education members care that on average 30% of the electric school buses at the MCPS bus depots aren't in use each day? 

Is this purchase sustainable for the future?  What are the long-term implications of procuring school buses that aren't in use each school day?

 

6 comments:

  1. how does this this compare to the gas bus use? I wouldn't want my children riding on buses that don't have time to maintenance and safety checks. Operating under the assumption that all or nearly all buses will run each day is a recipe for disaster

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    1. 30% of diesel buses are sitting at the bus depot every day for maintenance and safety checks? Really? Where are you getting that number? That a huge percentage of the fleet that is idle. That's about 474 buses a day, by your statement.

      But more to the point, who said that the electric school buses were off the road because of maintenance or safety checks? That wasn't stated in the meeting.

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    2. If you are actually worried about a disaster, then you might want to investigate. who owns the electric school buses that MCPS is using. MCPS doesn't own them, who does? When you find that out find out who is taking out insurance policies on the electric school buses. MCPS already said they weren't insuring the buses. Who is? Is anyone?

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    3. As you know, bus drivers aren't begging to drive these idle buses. In fact, it seems silly to be concerned about idle buses when there aren't any drivers to operate them. How does a bus become "un-idle?"

      It is quite likely that MCPS purchased these buses based on projected enrollment increases and to accommodate for future ridership growth. In regards to the comparison for diesel bus utilization, I never referenced a figure that states that 30% of gas buses are idle, but I see no reason as to why the utilization for gas buses would be different than electric buses. If I were concerned about the utilization of electric buses (which comprise a small portion of MCPS' entire bus fleet) then I would focus on investigating gas bus utilization because even a small proportion of idle gas buses would likely be greater than the actual number of electric buses sitting idle.

      In regards to your insurance question, I would encourage you to inquire with the MVA or other State government organizations to determine if MCPS is violating MD State insurance law by transporting thousands of children on uninsured buses each day.

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    4. It's quite likely that you are wrong. MCPS did not purchase electric buses at all, they don't own them or lease them. They are the property of a company called HET MCPS, LLC. MCPS did not bring these buses to the depots for future use! They were brought to replace existing, in use diesel buses.

      It's silly to be concerned about waste in educational resources? That's your choice. MCPS is paying full price for these electric buses without the benefit of any grants or subsidies. If the buses aren't in use, what are they paying for?

      If 30% of the electric buses are not in use on any given day, that's 30% of the diesel school buses that they replaced. That's astonishing.

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  2. The slide that was posted at the end of the presentation on the electric buses stated in contradiction to the presentation that 84 electric buses were deployed. Staff's numbers are not adding up and the BOE must hold staff accountable.

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