Bendy Bus Safety

Our opponents have called into question the safety of 60-foot articulated buses, otherwise known across the Pond as "bendy buses".  They are claiming that articulated buses are unsafe, and are being removed from service all around the world.

Problem is, not only are they safe, but they are being added into service all around the world!  In the US alone, in the past year, ten or more new BRT lines, most of them using 60-foot articulated buses, have come on-line.  If there's a safety problem here, why are more being added?  Because, there is no safety problem!

The only issue we can find, according to Wikipedia, is that articulated buses were removed from service in London, England a couple of years ago.  This may have been more political than due to a quantified safety problem, because the mayor got elected with removing these buses being part of his platform:  "... these safety statistics may be partly skewed due to the buses having been used on the busiest routes in the most crowded areas of the city, so making them look worse than the buses they were being compared with".  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articulated_bus.

They also pulled up some photos of articulated buses being stuck in major snowstorms.  Well, aren't we all?  Remember the five-hour commutes being reported in Portland a couple of years ago with the surprise blizzard that hit the region?  It wasn't just buses that were caught.

We've conducted our own research and can find nothing that indicates articulated buses are any more hazardous than fixed-route, 40-foot-type coaches which C-TRAN currently operates on Fourth Plain and other routes. 

We used Google searches for these keywords in our research: “Bus Rapid Transit” “Articulated Buses” “Safety” “Research” along with a separate search for “articulated buses” “known safety issues”.  

The reports we read are cited below, along with weblinks, if you want to take the time to do your own research:

·        “Design Treatments for Bicycles and Buses on Arterial and Collector Roads”, Stephanie McNeely and Garrett Donaher.  http://www.ite.org/annualmeeting/compendium10/pdf/AB10H3103.pdf.

·        “Bicycle/Bus Conflict Area Study”, Gregory R. Krykewycz, PP, AICP.  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/conferences/2010/NATMEC/Krykewycz.pdf and ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_PDF_FILES/Documents/Research/Complete%20Projects/Reducing%20Fatalities/Bicycle%20Bus%20Area%20Conflict%20Study.pdf.

·        Tri-Met: “Sharing the Road Safely: Important safety reminders for cyclists”, http://trimet.org/howtoride/bikes/safetytips.htm.

·        FHWA Course on Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation”.  http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/univcourse/pdf/swless124.pdf.

·        “FHWA-RD-99–034: A Comparative Analysis of Bicycle Lanes Versus Wide Curb Lanes: Final Report”, William W. Hunter, J. Richard Stewart, Jane C. Stutts, Herman H. Huang, and Wayne E. Pein.  http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/pedbike/99034/99034.pdf.

·        “APTA BTS-BRT-RP-002-10, Bus Rapid Transit Stations and Stops”. http://www.aptastandards.com/Portals/0/Bus_Published/002_RP_BRT_Stations.pdf.

·        “Safety of Pedestrians and Cyclists in Urban Areas”, European Transport Safety Council.  http://www.etsc.eu/oldsite/pedestrian.pdf.

·        “Evaluation Of Alternative Pedestrian Traffic Control Devices”, Katharine Hunter-Zaworski, P.E, Ph.D. and Jon Mueller. http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TP_RES/docs/Reports/2012/SPR721pedreport.pdf?ga=t.

·        “TCRP Report 118: Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide”.  http://www.community-wealth.org/_pdfs/tools/tod/tool-tcrp-bus-rapid-transit.pdf.

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Mall Park-and-Ride?

The blog Prop 1 Facts has a page on BRT.  Well, if you can call it that.  It talks mostly about C-TRAN's regular bus system.  Most peculiar is a reference, and a photo, to what they are trying to make you believe is a Vancouver Mall Park-and-Ride.  Check it out at http://prop1facts.com/BRT/.

The problem?  Well, problems, in fact.  First, nowhere on C-TRAN's bus system map or rider information web page does it show the Mall as a park-and-ride.  You see, park-and-rides on the system map (http://c-tran.com/system-map.html) show a big P where there are park-and-rides.  At the Mall?  A big T, for transit center.  In every dictionary we've consulted, P does not equal T.  Yet these project opponents keep trying to fool you into believing no one rides the Fourth Plain routes because they keep showing a picture of an empty Mall parking area and claim that no one is using it.

That's because IT'S NOT A PARK-AND-RIDE.

We've talked with Mall security.  If they see a transit customer wandering around off of the platform, they will ask that person (or persons) to go back to the platform.  If they see someone parking there with the intent of taking the bus, they will kindly ask that someone to go to a legitimate C-TRAN park-and-ride (see the P on the system map),  They will also point to the signs in the parking area, somewhat visible in the Prop 1 "Facts" photo, that say that parking is for Mall customers and employees only.  NOT A PARK-AND-RIDE.

These people keep trying to fool you with some conjecture.  Where do they get these ideas? 

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Wheelchairs and Bikes and BRT

Claim: bus stopped times on Fourth Plain aren't that long, even with wheelchairs and bikes.  All you need to do is add more buses and that will fix the problem.

Fact: it takes up to 3-5 minutes to board a wheelchair with current buses.  

Boarding a wheelchair involves the driver getting out and back into their seat, the wheelchair rider using the lift, and the driver securing the wheelchair on the bus.  There is no way that this can physically be done in less than 2-3 minutes.  And add to that the 2-3 times a month where a wheelchair rider can't board because the wheelchair bays are full.

Fact: it takes up to 2 minutes for a bicycle rider to board the bus.

This involves the bicycle rider walking into the street in front of the bus to mount their bike, and then returning to pay their fare and board.

C-TRAN has indicated some stops can take upwards of 5 to 7 minutes EACH.  Multiply a few minutes per stop by about 25 stops each way on the route, and you can see how much time the bus is NOT MOVING.

BRT solves this.  With level boarding, wheelchair riders can roll right onto the bus, and park themselves.  They become self-reliant, which is what most of them want in the first place: to be treated like any other rider.  Bicyclists can roll their bike onto the bus and put it in the on-board bike rack. Buses will run every 10 minutes during most of a typical weekday.  This increases wheelchair and bike parking capacity by as much as 33 percent.

BRT takes LESS THAN 20 SECONDS PER STOP.  This can save 8 to 10 minutes PER RUN.  That's a substantial time savings and improvement in reliability.  It benefits everyone.  Reliable bus travel times and ability to make connections.  Less time stopped in traffic.  More transit capacity for those who need, and for those who choose, to use transit.

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Let's Bust Another Fear

FEAR: BRT will drain the economy and destroy our local business.
 
FACT: BRT has clear potential to positively improve business along Fourth Plain. 

The US Government Accountability Office published a report in July 2012, “Bus Rapid Transit Projects Improve Transit Service and Can Contribute to
Economic Development”. The study concluded, “In general, we found that project sponsors and other stakeholders in each of our five case study locations
believe that the BRT project is having some positive effect on economic development”.

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