Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Los Angeles Bus-Rapid Transit Accidents
In five weeks of operation, the new Los Angeles Orange Line bus-rapid transit has been involved in four accidents. In a litany familiar to people in cities with light-rail transit, transit officials claim the line is perfectly safe because all the accidents were the fault of auto drivers.
The bus line has an exclusive right of way that follows an old rail line. Street intersections with the line have traffic signals, and drivers in all four accidents allegedly ran red lights. One thing the stories never mention is that the buses have been given signal priority so that all traffic signals are green when the buses arrive. This means that cross street signals no longer coordinate with other signals, so drivers who expect a series of green lights if they drive at the right speed find themselves with a red light when they get to the bus route.
I don't know if this is why any of the accidents took place, but it is worth consideration. Certainly, transit officials can't place 100 percent of the blame on auto drivers if the bus line messed up coordinated traffic signals. For now, the transit agency is telling bus drivers to slow to 10 mph through intersections instead of the originally scheduled 25 mph.
Another article reports that, in light of the latest accident, a group calling itself United Riders of Los Angeles is calling for a 72-hour closure of the bus line for a safety audit. The group suggest that, as it is now, the Orange Line might have to be renamed the Black-and-Blue Line.
To me, this is just one more argument against exclusive bus lanes. Transit riders do not need their own exclusive rights of way and except in the most crowded areas there are too few of them to justify the expense. Buses ought to operate on the same streets as cars, trucks, and bicycles.
The bus line has an exclusive right of way that follows an old rail line. Street intersections with the line have traffic signals, and drivers in all four accidents allegedly ran red lights. One thing the stories never mention is that the buses have been given signal priority so that all traffic signals are green when the buses arrive. This means that cross street signals no longer coordinate with other signals, so drivers who expect a series of green lights if they drive at the right speed find themselves with a red light when they get to the bus route.
I don't know if this is why any of the accidents took place, but it is worth consideration. Certainly, transit officials can't place 100 percent of the blame on auto drivers if the bus line messed up coordinated traffic signals. For now, the transit agency is telling bus drivers to slow to 10 mph through intersections instead of the originally scheduled 25 mph.
Another article reports that, in light of the latest accident, a group calling itself United Riders of Los Angeles is calling for a 72-hour closure of the bus line for a safety audit. The group suggest that, as it is now, the Orange Line might have to be renamed the Black-and-Blue Line.
To me, this is just one more argument against exclusive bus lanes. Transit riders do not need their own exclusive rights of way and except in the most crowded areas there are too few of them to justify the expense. Buses ought to operate on the same streets as cars, trucks, and bicycles.
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