City wants electric buses by Nov. 30

The busmaker is unlikely to meet the deadline. The transit authority may cancel the contract.

By KATHRYN WEXLER

© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 3, 2001

TAMPA -- Local transit officials are moving to cancel a contract with a Tennessee company for 10 electric buses that were supposed to hit Tampa streets more than 18 months ago but never carried a single passenger.

Tampa joins several cities across the country that ordered buses from Advanced Vehicle Systems Inc. and experienced poor repair records and delivery delays.

The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority plans to give the company until the end of the month to deliver all 10 buses it ordered or the deal is off. So far, only four buses have been delivered and none has worked as promised, said Sharon Dent, HARTline's executive director.

"They have promised us multiple times that they are going to satisfy us," Dent said. "I guess I'm losing confidence that they're going to achieve it." The HARTline board is expected to discuss the issue Monday.

The Nov. 30 deadline would make it unlikely the buses will be ready in time. Last month, HARTline shipped its four buses back to AVS' factory in Chattanooga, Tenn. Test drivers found them hard to steer, dashboard wires were exposed and windows leaked.

HARTline officials had planned to travel to Chattanooga in September to inspect the repairs after AVS mechanics couldn't adequately fix the buses in Tampa. But AVS canceled that trip, said Steven Roberts, HARTline's general manager.

Federal grants covered most of the cost of the buses, though about $125,000 of Community Investment Tax money was earmarked for the $2.4-million purchase. Roberts said the money isn't due until HARTline accepts the buses.

Meanwhile, HARTline hopes to use the grant money to buy similar buses from another company. The electric-hybrid buses run partly on rechargeable batteries and have low emissions.

Tampa is hardly the only municipality ready to give up on AVS.

In the Broward County city of Coconut Creek, officials last month returned two AVS buses that never ran well enough to be used. "We'd have opening dates with the community all excited, then -- oops, called off. Oops, called off," said Coconut Creek City Manager John Kelly. "We're about ready to bail."

Galveston, Texas, officials pulled their AVS buses off the street after multiple breakdowns and malfunctions. Buses ordered by Falls Church, Va., were plagued with problems, even with free upgrades.

And Sacramento, Calif., which bought five electric buses from AVS several years ago, sold them all. "We had them for a short time," said Mike Wiley, director of customer services for Sacramento. "They didn't work."

The five buses cost Sacramento $1.1-million. Sacramento sold them to Chattanooga a few months later for $712,000, Wiley said.

Chattanooga appears to be the one city with a stellar experience with AVS. Before HARTline officials ordered the buses, they called the Chattanooga Area Regional Transit Authority, which gave AVS glowing reviews.

The Chattanooga agency has unusual ties to AVS: Its former chairman now runs the company.

AVS president Ron Hitchcock was chairman of the Chattanooga Area Regional Transit Authority for 15 years. In 1999 he resigned to become AVS president.

HARTline's Roberts said he wishes he had known about Hitchcock's ties to the Chattanooga authority beforehand. HARTline policy forbids any of its employees or board members from doing business with the agency for three years after they leave, he said.

Tom Dugan, executive director of the Chattanooga authority for 20 years, said Hitchcock had nothing to do with AVS bids while chairman of the authority.

He left the appointed post with the authority because "he knew that would be too much of a conflict," said Dugan, who called Hitchcock a friend.

Hitchcock said any suggestion that he did anything improper is false. Dugan agreed. "I've never worked with anyone who's more straight," Dugan said.

- Kathryn Wexler can be reached at (813) 226-3383.

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