By: Diane Benjamin
Connect Transit Board meeting yesterday: https://www.connect-transit.com/file/556/03%2022%202022_Board%20of%20Trustees%20Meeting%20Packet.pdf
Payment:
$2,490,777
Add that to the $1,589,156 from this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/02/21/connect-transit-pays-proterra-for-electric-buses/
The total cost of 4 buses is $4,390,913. They still have $310,980 to go (unless that was sent as a deposit and I missed it)
Next add $1,715,000 for solar panels. https://blnnews.com/2021/03/04/pulling-the-plug-on-electric-buses/
All this so Connect can lose over $1,000,000 every month:
Only government can collect Revenue of $76,753.09 and spend $1,158,567.43.
Below is TOTAL ridership, bus and mobility:
Somehow CT had more riders with less miles.
A little more:
Cardinal Infrastructure is paid to tell CT what is happening in Washington DC. PDF pages 16-17:
Congress just passed a $1.5 TRILLION dollar spending bill. Of that amount is this:
Only 1 of those 70 projects is in Illinois:
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Alex Stein with city council comedy. If anyone out there feels so inclined, surely the B-N councils deserve this.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/cggiIkJ47mo/
Speaking of buses. I saw two short connect buses at the ford dealership in el paso. Getting service. One got dropped off the other was there to give the driver a ride back. What a waste. Even if that dealership is contractually cheaper the tax money isnt in BN, and the time and money wasted back and forth…who knows what the cost differences are or the specifics of the situation but given connects track record and BN’s track record of wasting taxpayer dollars its not surprising.
In that instance, 2 buses were dropped off for free warranty repairs while one was picked up after warranty work was complete. No bus was driven for the sole purpose of picking up the driver of the other bus. Heller Ford is used because of Sam Lemans track record of slow service and not actually fixing the problem that the bus is there for. I know someone in the maintenance department at Connect, so this is directly from them.
With regard to continued monthly million $$ losses, once again “you can’t fix stupid”. A place to start is the removal of GOP hacks Davis and LaHood, who continue to feed CT with taxpayer funded grants for electric busses rather than funding road repairs. These and other effete politicians that want to buy votes with a smaller than small reduction in gas and other taxes with be the very first to tell us that roads and infrastructure can no longer be repaired because of the tax give away. More third world country solutions from USA politicians.
Just an FYI, the solar panels are to provide electricity to the office building. CT installed generators next to their garage for the purpose of providing electrical power to the charging stations.
As in diesel generators?
Not sure if diesel. How else would one generate enough electricity to charge a fleet of busses? Electric generators? What happens if there is an electric power outage?
GREEN!
There is no diesel generator running the chargers. They are on their own separate transformer from cornbelt. They are charged directly from the electric grid, not diesel generators…
So they use fossil fuel to charge them
The CT failure is the result of the board members who were appointed to run it. The board was appointed by Koos and Renner. CT still runs as a failure because the same board exists pushing the same wasteful policies. Neither B/N councils are using their over site powers to fix the CT mess.
now what is the farnsworth group studying for $15K in feb?
Probably transfer station, not sure though