Within the academic year, CATbus has seen three major incidents on campus. Last semester, one bus unintentionally rolled down a hill and collided with a staircase. Later in the semester, a student was hit at a crosswalk. This last Friday, however, another incident was added to the list when one of the buses caught fire.
The student response is mostly stoic. Rebecca Walker, a sophomore Materials Science major, said that despite these events she has not stopped riding the bus.
“I don’t feel unsafe but I do keep other incidents in the back of my mind.”
Nate Anderson, a senior Mechanical Engineering major, stated “I still feel fine riding.” He added, “since parking is awful, it’s worth the risk.”
Jessie Bailey, a senior English major, stated “on a day-to-day basis I’m way more concerned with whether or not the bus is going to arrive on time than if it’ll get me home safely.”
CATbus Director Keith Moody, in response to the number of incidents, wanted to assure students that the buses are in fact safe.
With the exception of this year, he noted that major incidents such as this occur “not even once a year.”
Moody also emphasized the attention paid to the upkeep of the buses. “They have a full inspection and go on a test run before release.” He added that inspections are done as mileage increases on each bus. As far as repairs go, he believes that CATbus does its due diligence.
“Anytime we have a break from peak service,” he said, “we really go through the buses. We take the opportunity to do anything major that you could predict.” He then added that they try to stay one step ahead to prevent any major incidents due to bus malfunction.
As far as the incidents themselves, Moody accounted for each major case. In response to the fire, he stated that it “is something that is being investigated. That bus was in top running condition. Maintenance confirmed that.” He added that “even though it was our oldest, it was in top shape.”
For the incident where a student was hit, he stated that “the police […] determined that the student walked into the bus,” and that “We were not at fault with that.”
Lastly, regarding the bus going down the stairs, he admitted that they were responsible, though not due to the bus themselves.
“It was a driver error. That driver was fired and the problem no longer exists. The equipment was in perfect running order.”
Moody also took the time to commend the fire department on their timely reaction as well as to point out the directions the CATbus company is taking in the future. In July, they will retire several of their buses over twelve years of age to make room for ten Proterra Electric buses, which they were awarded a grant for last year.
CATbus itself is newer than most other transit systems, which Moody notes are “one hundred years old.” In contrast, they started in 1996. However, as Moody stated, they are often on the cutting edge of the industry.
To learn more about CATbus, go to http://www.catbus.com/