Miami-Dade Bought 69 Electric Buses. Now They’re Lawn Ornaments.

Miami-Dade spent $61.8 million on 69 Proterra electric buses — and today, many of those buses are sitting in a yard like a very expensive reminder that government can, in fact, impulse-buy.

This was supposed to be the “green future” moment: clean transit, modern fleet, savings over time, the whole “we’re leading the way” speech. The buses were even rolled out with plenty of optimism back in 2023.

Fast-forward: the manufacturer filed for bankruptcy, and suddenly “state-of-the-art” became “state-of-the-yard.”

If this feels like buying 69 milk cows and getting 69 bulls, congratulations — you understand the taxpayer experience.

At this point, the spending feels less like “strategic investment” and more like a 24-year-old from Kendall at SPACE with her dad’s American Express—swiping first, asking questions never, and acting shocked when the bill shows up.

How did we get here?

Miami-Dade Transit has confirmed the numbers: 69 buses, $61.8M, funded through a mix that included federal/state/local sources.

The key issue now is painfully simple: parts and support. When a specialized manufacturer collapses, “maintenance” becomes “good luck,” and a fleet can turn into a parking lot full of million-dollar paperweights.

This isn’t just Miami-Dade, either. The broader South Florida situation being discussed publicly involves nearly 100 electric buses across the region sitting idle, valued around $96 million.

“We’re still going green.” Of course we are.

When asked about the bus mess, the Mayor has continued to emphasize the county’s commitment to going green and adding more electric vehicles in the future.

And look — nobody’s saying clean transit is bad. The problem is the execution: if your “green future” plan ends with buses sitting in a lot because nobody can service them, you didn’t buy sustainability.

You bought an expensive press release.

The timing is what makes this sting

This whole Proterra bus saga is unfolding while Miami-Dade has also been wrestling with the $144 million cost of a "repurposed" administration/government center which was a former Florida Power & Light complex — a project that’s been reported as ballooning dramatically from early figures into a much larger price tag some where in the neighborhood of $250 million.

And yes — all of this sits under the cloud of a recall effort aimed at the Mayor, with critics framing these kinds of big-ticket decisions as mismanagement (while the Mayor’s team frames the recall as political theater and has criticized the recall PAC’s own transparency). The Pac which received the support of 17 real estate developers and commercial property investors who funded a quarter of the $4.6 million raised to supporting her reelection.

So the public mood is basically:

• buses sitting unused,
• major projects ballooning,
• a budget crisis already in the air,
• and everyone asking: who exactly is driving this thing?

Then There is, THIS!

A well know local reporter, Jeff Weinsier, approached Mayor Levin Cava at a beach clean up to ask her question about the Proterra Busses. Unfortunately for him her security wasn't having any of that and shoved the journalist like a steroid filled bouncer at door of a Miami nightclub. Cue video!

In the video, you can hear the Mayor's security threatening the journalist with arrest. To which Mr Weinsier asks "for what?!" This entire incident most likely has the Mayor's entire P.R. department asking "what the fuck now?!"

Because nothing screams “we’ve got this under control” like needing security to handle a microphone.

The $400 Million elephant in the room.

And the reason this story hits harder right now is because it’s landing on top of a budget narrative that already has residents on edge.

State officials have publicly claimed Miami-Dade’s budget includes roughly $302 million in “excessive/wasteful” spending—framed as proof residents are being overtaxed and the county is living beyond its means.
At the same time, county leadership has been dealing with a separate, widely discussed ~$400 million budget gap in recent budget cycles—meaning even on their best day, they’re juggling a shortfall while trying to fund big-ticket priorities.

So when people see $61.8 million buses sitting idle, they’re not “confused.” They’re doing the math and asking: who’s watching the store?

Final takeaway

This is why Miami-Dade is boiling.

You’ve got $61.8 million worth of “green” buses sitting in a yard because the company behind them collapsed — so the county basically bought the future and got stuck with the receipt. You’ve got a new administration building plan that keeps inflating like it’s allergic to a budget cap. And when someone tries to ask about the bus mess on camera, the response isn’t clarity — it’s security putting hands out and physically shoving the question out of the frame.

That’s not leadership. That’s optics management.

And now the Mayor is facing a recall effort, because when residents watch big money decisions turn into big money problems, they stop arguing about policy and start asking the only question that matters:

Who’s in charge of the checkbook — and why does it keep acting like it’s unlimited?