Curbside Buses Pose Greater Danger, Says Report
Ridership of the popular and inexpensive curbside buses that pick people up around New York and take them to nearby cities are more than five times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident. The bombshell statement was issued in a report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The NTSB studied the performance of 122 operators with at least 72 of those companies offering curbside service. It ultimately found that taking an intercity bus service is safer than traveling in passenger vehicles.
The recent growth of the intercity bus industry has put extra vehicles on the road and has overwhelmed the state and federal inspectors responsible for them.
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The report states that there are 2,327 inspectors who are responsible for 53,097 buses. It continues to identify that there are just 878 inspectors that are certified to perform full compliance reviews.
“The oversight of this industry has not kept pace with its growth, and the consequences have been deadly,” Sen. Charles Schumer said.
Officials have increased the pressure on bus operators to comply with safety protocol after a fatal crash in March involving curbside bus carrier World Wide Travel. The bus was headed from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut to the Bronx when the driver lost control and the bus nearly split in two. The crash claimed the lives of 15 people. The driver was suspected of speeding.
A few months later in May a bus traveling on Interstate 95 in Virginia killed four people. The company who operated the bus had been previously cited 46 times and was told to shut down. Yet, due to varying state regulations it was reported that the same company was operating a few days later under a different name.
Deborah A.P. Hersman, Chairman of the NTSB stated: “It’s time to recognize that traditional transportation services have morphed into new business models that challenge existing regulatory constructs.”
The NTSB said curbside bus companies are using multiple Transportation Department registration numbers across state lines in order to circumvent and hide the violations that have been found.
“Motorcoach safety is on the NTSB’s Most Wanted List because of the potential for high-consequence accidents like we saw in the Bronx,” Hersman said.
Federal and state inspectors told the NTSB that bus operators lacked enough English language skills to perform their jobs. The NTSB stated: “This deficiency, although not illegal, may lead to misunderstandings and violations of regulatory requirements,”
