Pedestrian Safety Hour
Pedestrian Safety Presentation
Jack Requa, Metro’s Chief Operating Officer for Bus, talked about accidents that we had during the previous few months and our need to focus on pedestrian safety.
Our street supervisors are now riding the buses. We are working with bus operators, constantly training and keeping safety regulations fresh. For example, each operator is taking a one-day refresher course on the bus training simulator. The simulator allows operators to sit in a bus cab and simulate the process of driving a bus so that they can practice without risk.
In addition to training, Metro has placed sound signals on some buses to notify the drivers when they are getting to close to an object. We have also added strobe lights to some buses in the District to alert pedestrians of the approaching buses.
Comment: Metrobus operators appear to be slowing down; the extra training and caution equipment is working.
Comment: I drive fire trucks and emergency vehicles and understand the challenges to keep driving skills up to speed. The tire guards help reduce customer injury.
Response: In 1999 , Metro installed 31 tire guards to the right side of buses to prevent items from going under the bus tires. However, we can consider adding guards to the left as well. About 50% of bus drivers have less than 3 years experience.
Next, Paul Mayfield talked about efforts since 1999 to improve bus safety, distributing a sheet of safety improvements made between FY 2002 and FY 2007
Metro is eliminating the part-time drivers. We must educate both bus operators and or pedestrians.
Q&A
Q: Are bus operators allowed to make right turns on red?
A: No.
Q: Does Metro have bi-lingual bus operators?
A: Metro is currently working on the recruitment of diverse drivers who speak more than one language, particularly Spanish.
