(Photo: flickr/p.gordon)

Where have all the Metrobuses gone? WMATA has been attending to so many this spring!

Last month, Metro announced it was retrofitting 47 New Flyer Xcelsior buses due to "an electrical short within the ESS, a lithium-ion battery that stores energy for use by the hybrid traction motor" and resolved by sometime in May. Now today, the transit agency announces it is sidelining 94 Orion VI buses because one caught fire this morning while driving on Route 50 this morning in Maryland. Can you imagine? Apparently one of these Orion VI buses, which Metro has used for a dozen years now, also caught fire last Thursday in Fairfax, which prompted a reduced role in the fleet and investigation. Now all 94 buses are out indefinitely. Metro is reporting no injuries, fortunately.

A metro bus caught fire while driving! I'd rather walk than have to ride one of those things, they hit cars, run over people, and combust

— Hunter Ward (@TheBabeLincoln) April 17, 2012

WMATA features about 1,500 buses total, with 140 cited for various issues. The affected buses comprise just short of 10% of the total bus fleet. Feeling ready for your next bus ride now, commuters?