Best In Show: Hybrid Buses

We loved the retro pony cars and exotics at the Baltimore Auto Show this weekend. But for every 480-hp Nissan GT-R, the place was swamped with Chevy Cobalts and their equivalents. It's a good thing we weren't shopping, because everything in our range sucked. A lady looking at a ZR-1 window sticker summed it up: "This thing costs more than the remainder of the mortgage on our house."
That's why were calling Baltimore City's hybrid bus display best in show.
For car guys, we have a surprising amount of love for public transportation. (Laugh if you like. We're not the one driving the $16,000 Cobalt.) If high-speed rail is the Ferrari of public transport, city buses are its Volkswagen. We need more. Baltimore's new hybrids are expected to run on electricity 90% of the time (says something about city traffic, since the gas kicks in after 10 miles per hour.)
But like the car hybrid frenzy in general, we're not all peace and love here for Baltimore's hybrid buy. At $875,000 a crack for 30 of the new buses, we're thinking the money could have been better spent lowering fares, increasing service and replacing asshole drivers. Then maybe more folks would give up their junkers and get on board.