Metro Chief Vows Better Bus Safety

Maneuvering a Metrobus in city traffic is no easy assignment. Drivers must steer their 40-foot behemoths through an urban obstacle course of distracted drivers, oblivious pedestrians and icy roadways. Cars pull out with no warning. Pedestrians stream through intersections, walking inches from buses' wheels. The job itself seems to demand an impossible set of contradictions: courteousness but little talking, promptness but no speeding.

Many riders said they thought operators were doing the best they could under difficult circumstances.

"Pedestrians cross against the light all the time," said Joaquin Miguel, a cook who lives in the District and rides the 70 line along Georgia Avenue NW. "They don't pay attention."

Jack Requa, Metro's bus chief, said there is no excuse for drivers who speed, run red lights or talk on cellphones. Those drivers will face immediate discipline, he said. At the same time, he said, heavy traffic might cause buses to block intersections even though they entered them legally. Congested streets also make it difficult to merge back into traffic from bus stops. "If you're totally 100 percent polite, you may never move," he said.

Jackie Jeter, president of the Amalgamated Transit Workers Union Local 689, which represents about 7,000 of Metro's 10,000 employees, said passengers have tried to intimidate operators by snapping their photos with cellphones. In a few cases, she said, riders have accused operators of being murderers.

"These accidents occur, and every operator would give anything for it not to happen," she told reporters last week.

Federal transit officials say that, nationwide, the number of bus accidents that result in pedestrian deaths each year is relatively small.

For the three fiscal years that ended June 30, 2006, Metrobus had five pedestrian fatalities.

The New York City transit system, where buses travel three times as many miles a year as Metrobuses, had one pedestrian fatality in that time frame. The Los Angeles Metro bus system, which is about twice the size of Metrobus, had seven fatalities in that period, according to federal officials.

Drivers are not always at fault when pedestrians are killed by buses. For instance, a man was killed in an early-morning collision in May when he walked into the path of a bus heading south on Indian Head Highway in Charles County. In the three accidents that have happened this year, one operator is on paid leave pending the outcome of a District police investigation, another has been terminated, and a third has been charged with two counts of negligent homicide.

Metro's bus system, which includes 1,499 vehicles and about 2,300 drivers, has long been overshadowed by the celebrated subway, which carries tourists and professionals and draws congressional attention.

Officials have made significant improvements by buying new buses and installing SmarTrip fareboxes and devices to pinpoint bus locations. But service remains troubled by outdated operations, underinvestment and an unresponsive bureaucracy, industry experts have said.