Latest news with #Bus8155
Ottawa Citizen
01-05-2025
- Ottawa Citizen
Westboro bus crash inquest calls on OC Transpo to apply 'safety lens' to decisions
An inquest jury has called on OC Transpo to filter every decision about buses, infrastructure and training through a 'safety lens' to protect passengers from the kind of accident that killed three people in January 2019. Article content Article content It was one of 60 recommendations the five-person jury issued Thursday at the conclusion of the month-long inquest into the Westboro bus crash. Article content Article content The jury also recommended OC Transpo install driver-facing cameras on all buses (to ensure drivers are not distracted by phones or other devices), assess new drivers for proficiency on double-decker and articulated buses, conduct annual safety inspections of the Transitway to identify potential hazards, and dramatically improve retraining for probationary drivers involved in serious, preventable collisions. Article content Article content The jury further recommended OC Transpo reduce to 30 km/hr the speed at which buses approach Transitway stations until it removes or modifies bus shelter canopies at seven stations, or constructs barriers in front them to deflect wayward buses. Article content A similar, rigid shelter canopy at Westboro Station cut into the second deck of Bus 8155 on Jan. 11, 2019 with devastating results. Article content Article content Article content The jury was tasked with investigating the circumstances that led to the deaths of three passengers – Bruce Thomlinson, 56, Judy Booth, 57, and Anja Van Beek, 65 – and making recommendations to prevent similar deaths. Article content Inquest juries are prohibited from assigning blame, and their recommendations are not binding on the organizations involved. Article content City of Ottawa lawyer Anne Tardif said OC Transpo has embraced a safety culture during the past six years. 'Put simply,' she told jurors during the inquest, 'OC Transpo is not the same organization today that it was in 2019.' Article content OC Transpo, she said, has introduced a chief safety officer, a data-based analysis of driver performance, and a new screening process to weed out driver applicants with unsuitable psychological profiles. Article content The transit service has also increased the amount of time trainees receive behind the wheel of double-decker and articulated buses, she said. Trainees now receive a minimum of eight hours of road training on both double-deckers and articulated buses. In the past, drivers received as little as two hours of such specialized training.
Ottawa Citizen
26-04-2025
- Ottawa Citizen
Westboro bus crash inquest hears 44 safety recommendations
The Westboro bus crash inquest jury has heard 44 recommendations for improved bus safety in Ottawa, including a call to reduce speed limits near Transitway stations and to assess new drivers for proficiency on all bus types. Article content Article content The jury was presented Friday with a joint slate of recommendations from inquest counsel, the City of Ottawa and the bus drivers' union, along with the families of Bruce Thomlinson and Judy Booth. Article content Article content Thomlison, 56, Booth, 57, and Anja Van Beek, 65, were second-floor passengers on Bus 8155 when the double-decker slammed into Westboro station on Jan. 11, 2019. Article content Article content Article content Rookie driver Aissatou Diallo was driving 10 km/ hr over the 50 km/ hr posted speed limit on approach to Westboro Sation when she veered off the road and lost control of her bus on the snowy shoulder. Article content Inquest participants jointly recommended the speed on approach to Transitway stations be reduced to 30 or 40 km/hr. Article content Jurors have heard three passengers died and 17 others were seriously injured when the rigid steel awning of Westboro Station's passenger shelter pierced the shell of Bus 8155 and collapsed nine rows of seats. Article content 'What is without dispute,' inquest counsel Alessandra Hollands said Friday, 'is that Ms. Booth, Mr. Thomlinson and Ms. Van Beek, along with all passengers on Bus 8155, should have been able to get to their destination safely.' Article content Article content Hollands told jurors its their role to determine what can be done so that other transit riders in Ottawa arrive at their destinations safely. Article content The joint recommendations stopped short of calling for existing Transitway shelters to be torn down. Article content Instead, the participants recommended the city assess the Transitway for 'potential intrusion hazards' that are within three metres of the curb. Article content The inquest has heard that seven Transitway stations still have passenger shelter canopies similar to those at Westboro Station. Westboro Station itself has been torn down to make way for the LRT.
