today's stereotypeDamn! I was just about to post on this! Here in CA, I was in Costco, and I discovered a phenomenon- next time you're in a store like that, and around similar...
On Fri, 04 Nov 2005 05:31:44 +0000, Pooh Bear
In a follow-up story on the KTLA Morning News today, they reported that the accident yesterday was caused by a 78-year-old woman who ran a red light while talking on her cell phone, according to videotape of the incident and corroborated by eyewitness testimony.
A spokesman asked how someone could miss seeing a 60 foot bus. As I have reported many times, I see these "invisible" buses every single day. Every time a bus stops, a long line of inattentive drivers forms up directly behind it, blocking the intersection. It's as if each bus is equipped with a cloaking device like the Romulans had in Star Trek, rendering them invisible until they de-cloak at the bus stop to load and unload pbuttengers.
Clearly these new MTA buses are equipped with the same cloaking technology as OCTA buses.
Another follow-up story reveals that the model for the Valley busway was also accident prone - until officials took away all the advantages of having an exclusive right-of-way (e.g. high speeds and signal priority at intersections). What's the point of paying all this extra money to make an exclusive ROW for buses when they have to crawl along just like traffic on regular streets?
Orange Line Model Beset by Crashes
Miami busway cited by the MTA as an example for the Valley transit route had 67 accidents in its first 45 months, including two rests.
By Caitlin Liu and Amanda Covarrubias Times Staff Writers
November 4, 2005
When San Fernando Valley residents and others expressed worries about the potential for accidents on the Orange Line, transit officials repeatedly buttured them the busway would be safe ÷ and pointed to a similar transit system in Miami as evidence.
But the Miami busway had in fact been plagued with accidents when it first opened ÷ some similar to those the Orange Line has experienced since opening last week, according to records and interviews.
It was only after the Miami system reduced its bus speeds and made other safety improvements that accidents declined. Now, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has adopted one similar measure: slowing down Orange Line buses as they go through intersections.
LLBs getting their dueNow that I am experimenting with driving nearer the speed limit, I am seeing a lot more things I never had time for. In addition to the...
On Thursday, Orange Line buses crawled through the route's 36 crossings at 10 mph ÷ a new MTA policy insbreastuted after two accidents Wednesday resulted in 15 injuries. Before, the buses were allowed to travel 25 to 30 mph through crossings.
The Miami busway is an eight-mile route built on a former railway that parallels a highway and intersects streets. Between its February 1997 opening and November 2000, 67 crashes occurred on busway intersections, resulting in dozens of injuries and two rests, according to a National Bus Rapid Transit Insbreastute report.
The crashes so concerned Florida officials that they required the buses to slow down, first from a top speed of 45 mph through crossings to 15 mph, and finally to stopping outright at major intersections.
They also turned off the corridor's signal priority system, which meant the buses had to wait for red lights just like regular cross-traffic.
