On Friday, California became the first state in the nation to mandate zero-emissions transit buses, with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voting unanimously that by 2029, all new buses need to be carbon-free. The move will cheer the electric bus industry and some environmentalists. But critics say that as it stands, electric buses can’t do the job California needs from a transit perspective and that unless the technology dramatically improves, CARB just voted to force a slew of lemon vehicles onto the road. The AP quotes the California Transit Association expressing concerns about electric buses performance, as well as money available for the transition. CTA seems to prefer a deadline of 2040 for fully bus electrified fleets. That is probably in part because, while the AP cites proponents of all-electric fleets as saying “they have lower maintenance… costs,” that seems to be a dubious proposition given Los Angeles’ experience of…