Mayor made right decision on BYD buses

Kudos to Mayor Tim Keller for pulling the plug on Build Your Dreams (BYD) electric bus manufacturer and holding its feet to the fire. In response, BYD Vice President Michael Austin embarrassed himself and BYD in an interview by KOB television by defensively denying the criticism, and projected these problems as being the fault of the city. Driver error was the claim. I don’t understand how BYD can refute the reasonable and objective issues Keller identifies as being ongoing problems — battery range being only slightly greater than half of what was advertised, complete fleet of buses ordered two years overdue, doors opening spontaneously, wheelchair lifts malfunctioning due to faulty sensors, two out of three sets of brakes not working, batteries heating up when in use or when being charged — major safety issues, but in addition, a list of other annoying issues that simply should not be happening.

It seems like the city has bent over backward to accommodate BYD by extending contract deadlines and dealing with ongoing problems as they arose, but when it became clear that a timely resolution of all these problems was not in sight, it was time to say enough is enough. Thank you, mayor, for taking a firm stand.

Albuquerque is not alone. Other cities have experienced problems with BYD electric buses. Los Angeles and Columbia, Mo., have reported similar experiences, and it will be interesting to see what Indianapolis’ experience will be as it recently engaged in an electric bus contract with BYD.

Regardless of whether you were a fan of former Mayor Richard Berry’s ART project or not, we’ve got it. Keller inherited it and now has to make it work. It would be disastrous to rip out the entire infrastructure that has been installed over the past two years. I appreciate the fact that Keller has been adamant about not putting an unsafe product on the streets. BYD in response has refuted their buses are unsafe. At this point … litigation (will have to) resolve this mess. It also looks like we are perhaps a couple of years away from having an operative ART system in place, but better this way than holding a bill of goods we are unhappy with. ROBERT B. FERGUSON Albuquerque