Commission hears questions about past Proterra buses as county accepts federal transit grant tied to new electric buses

Miami-Dade County commissioners approved a Federal Transit Administration formula grant on March 4 that includes funding toward electric-bus capital and rehabilitation work, but several commissioners pressed county staff about failures with an earlier fleet of Proterra buses and what the county is doing to recoup costs.

The board voted to accept the federal transit funds after Transportation and Public Works interim director Giuffre Dias described the grant as formula money tied to population and state allocation. Dias told the commission $5.6 million in the grant package is intended to help reimburse costs tied to new Flyer buses for the South Corridor; that funding is separate from the earlier Proterra procurement, she said.

Commissioners asked directly why the county paid roughly $69 million for Proterra buses that later suffered breakdowns. “We paid $69,000,000. They gave us buses. The buses were no longer operable,” Commissioner [name not specified in transcript] said during the discussion. Dias said the county is working with the company that acquired Proterra’s assets to try to enforce warranty obligations and “exploring all options to either be made whole in terms of warranty or seeking other avenues.”

Dias said the new Flyer buses had gone through “extensive testing” and that the vendor for the current procurement is a long-established bus manufacturer. She told commissioners the grant’s electric-bus funds would be used to reimburse the county’s bus rehab costs and not for the earlier Proterra contract itself.

Commissioners who pressed the issue said they wanted assurances that the new buses will not repeat the operational problems the county experienced with Proterra. Dias said the county’s procurement and fleet teams continue to work on warranty and enforcement steps with the successor entity to Proterra.

The board approved the grant package and related items by voice vote. Several commissioners, including Senator Rene Garcia and Commissioner [name not specified], noted they want continued updates and a full accounting of warranty and legal options related to the earlier procurement.

The district’s transit director and county staff said they will report further to committee if the board requests additional information about the earlier Proterra contract and about performance guarantees for the new procurement.

A copy of the administration’s grant memorandum and the department’s presentation are filed with the clerk and will be available in committee files as staff follows up.