The efficiency gains that were promised seems to have been lost from simply failure to take into account the type of driving each bus would likely be put to--which may have been made worse by the transit managers' desire to maintain some flexibility in the routes to which a bus is assigned.

What is interesting is that the premium for the 'magic' will never be paid back, even under the assumption that historically high diesel prices will continue--we'll see how happy the transit folks are when prices return to normalcy.