I just watched the silliest “special report” on Komo news (no link, sorry) about speeding buses and how dangerous they are. It was embarassing. Sure, I can see it could be a problem if buses are running red lights or breezing through stop signs, but is a bus going 37 in a 35 zone really news worthy? I really bet most drivers even would rather buses go faster. Why does Komo want buses to go slow?
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You could ask the family of Michael A. Dahlquist why KOMO wants Metro bus drivers not to drive over the speed limit.
Mr Dahlquist was a tragedy, but more than 43,000 people get killed in traffic accidents each year in American, and almost 600 just in Washington state.
That’s more than one every single day.
If Ms. Olosky was driving at or below the speed limit, is there a greater chance Mr. Dahlquist would be alive?
I don’t mind the bus speeding at all, most of the drivers are quite safe about it.
Drivers (will soon) make $26.10 per hour. For that much money, I wish they could: Stop speeding. Take their radio earpiece out of their left ear. Take their Bluetooth out of their left ear. Stop talking on their cell phone while driving. And stop being rude to people who are asking them simple questions.
In other words, just act like professional drivers.
professional drivers like cab drivers?
i dont think i’ve ever seen a cab driver that isn’t on a cell phone speeding.
sam, the pay scale doesn’t start at $26.10 – it goes UP TO $26.10.
Bus drivers don’t speed for fun, they speed and run red lights because they are behind schedule.
When drivers are behind schedule it is usually due to auto-caused congestion or disabled/elderly boarding.
And you could see why drivers try to catch-up to scheduled departure times: they get yelled at by self-absorbed cranky customers down the line, and justifiably angry riders who miss transfers. And they get yelled at by their bosses.
Despite what the BRT snake oil salesmen tell you, buses are only going to get less reliable (except where level boarding speeds up wheelchair stops) in the coming years. Traffic in the urban areas will continue to degrade the bus drivers’ ability to keep on schedule.
If the morons at KOMO wanted to find somebody to blame, they might take a look at all the auto dealer ads they’ve got running on their TV and radio stations.
Love the radar he was doing on E-3 Busway. Wonder if Service Quality for KC Metro knows they were doing this, on a roadway that is transit only, harassing the operators at the bus zones. Real professional KOMO-TV. What KOMO should be covering is the fact that Metro has very little money to fix these schedules to be more realistic for the operators to maintain.
You people think bus drivers and cab drivers drive too fast in this town? You guys are such absolute country cousins. The cab drivers here are total f-ing cowards who always drive the speed limit. Bus driver on a cell phone? Maybe he’s on it because he spends 8 hours a day at the wheel, and he can’t exactly pull over to chat. Besides, if it’s a big deal for you, call Metro and complain. They’ll ignore it, but it’ll give you the sense that you’ve accomplished something.
As for KOMO: they’re stupid. Cars kill people every day. Lots of people. People speed while driving all the time. As a percentage of the problem, buses are at %.01
Bus drivers don’t like it when morons walk into their office and ask questions like “does this bus go to the store?” or “where’s Kurt Cobain’s house?” or “do you know that route that goes next to the thing where Bob lives?” They hate that. Keep it short and sweet.
The REAL danger…repeated daily on Puget Sound roads….
http://www.komotv.com/news/local/18819074.html
The clown who did the story on Killer Buses needs to start watching his own channel
http://www.komotv.com/news/18868364.html
Of note: the promo that KOMO was running for this segment had the voice of the bus driver digitally distorted (“None of my riders are screaming”). However, on the actual report the voice wasn’t disguised at all (but the face still was).
Digital distorted voice? Classy scare-tactic komo, classy.
I was on the 150 when this moron was filming the piece. He was standing there with a radar detector, in the way of people trying to get on/off the bus.
In my mind, there is nothing that driving slower would do to save people’s lives that get hit by vehicles. Big, hard metal objects with lots of mass are deadly at most speeds when you combine them with the soft flesh that composes our bodies. I’d rather my bus be on time.
It is quite interesting though that KOMO does not have the story online anymore — I have tried to look on their recent stories, there are older stories, yet this is not posted. Googling it does not yield success either…it did however pull this blog up.
I forgot about the story that they were going to air — if the reporter was clocking the bus driver speeding on the Busway … I have lost even more respect for KOMO, as it is common knowledge that the road is for BUSSES…hence the BUS in Busway.
I am saddened to see how many of the stations out here do the news. I worked at a small-market station years ago, and we would never do stories such as they are out here…it makes me sick sometimes. The news that I watch the most is Q13′s, they remind me of the way I worked. They make it fair, fun and show both sides.