More busing

Michael Taylor (left), Shadid Abdul-Rahim, Joyce Fuller, Quinton Hill and Rosevelt Johnson were among those who protested outside the MTA building Thursday. They were upset about the recent cancellation of a bus route in their neighborhood.(Sun photo by Chiaki Kawajiri) Dec 30, 2005.

In "MTA could revise bus plan: Changes not yet announced, but employee posted proposal online," the Sun reports that "The Maryland Transit Administration is considering a series of schedule changes in February -- a recognition that the new bus route plan it implemented in October was flawed.These so-far unannounced changes could come as a result of numerous complaints that the Greater Baltimore Bus Initiative -- which the Ehrlich administration has billed as an improvement to service -- has hurt service on some routes."

The Sun has a running webpage on the MTA Bus route changes here. And here is the MTA website on the "Greater Baltimore Bus Intiative."



2. The Sun also ran a story by the Chicago Tribune national correspondent Michael Martinez, about a new bus rapid transit line in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, and how it is subject to frequent crashes. Read the story, "L.A. drivers get dangerously close to bus line."

It's a similar story to what happened when Houston inaugurated its new light rail system in 2003. Lots of crashes. Drivers often have a hard time getting along with other forms of mobility, which if you're a bike rider or runner-jogger, certainly you have plenty of stories to tell about driver harassment...

According to the Houston Chronicle webpage on the Houston light rail system, there were 68 collisions costing at least $1,000 in damage from the opening of the system in October 2003, through the end of 2004. I do think there is an issue of design (see: "DALLAS VS. HOUSTON--Where safety, design collide:DART system's track location helps it log fewer accidents than Metro's Main Street line"), as always, but again, I'd say a big part of the problem is likely to be the drivers...


60-foot "Metro Liner" articulated bus, used on the Metro Orange Line. From San Fernando Valley Transit Insider.

Crash photo from KNBC-TV.

Index Keywords: transit