Friday, April 30, 2010

5 year old run over

School bus crash
Lance Hernandez
Police investigate an accident involving a school bus and a child.

Jeffco Fifth Grader Run Over By School Bus

Boy In Critical Condition

POSTED: 8:58 am MDT April 30, 2010
UPDATED: 10:41 am MDT April 30, 2010


A 5th grader running late for school has been rushed to the hospital in critical condition after he was run over by a school bus he was trying to catch.The incident happened at 8:52 a.m. Friday at West Hampden Service Road and Depew Street, just west of Sheridan Boulevard.The boy, who lives in the Tall Pines Complex, was running out on Depew Street to catch the school bus, police Lt Matt Murray said. He was running alongside the right side of the bus, pounding on it to stop when the bus made a right turn onto Hampden and ran over him with its rear wheels, Murray said.

Students who were on the bus witnessed what happened."It looked like he was dead because his eyes weren't moving or anything," said student Tiffany Thomas.Another boy on the bus, Jacob Petersen, said he heard and felt a big thump."I was on the bus and I heard a thump and then I just heard screaming," said Jacob, who says the victim is a good friend.Jacob's Peterson's mother, Tammy Petersen, said she ran out of the house when she heard the screaming and saw the boy trapped under the wheel."I didn't see it happen, I just heard screaming," Petersen said. "I ran out and saw him under the bus. He asked if it was bad and I told him, 'No.'Peterson said she was trying to reassure the boy, whom she knows well. He had just stopped by her house Friday morning to borrow a cup of sugar, she said.The victim is a student at West Gate Elementary, said Jefferson County School District spokeswoman Lynn Setzer.There's no indication the 53-year-old driver of the Jeffco school bus ever saw or heard the boy, Murray said.The boy was transported to Swedish Medical Center by West Metro Fire, Denver police said.7NEWS has crews at the scene. Please refresh this page for more informati

KICKED OFF BUS IN SWEDEN FOR SEX

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 29 (UPI) -- A middle aged Swedish couple were kicked off a bus and charged with sexual harassment for allegedly committing sex acts while aboard the vehicle.

Passengers on the bus traveling from Huskvarna to Ljungby in August 2009 said the couple, who boarded the vehicle in Stockholm, were engaging in sexual activities in full view of other people, The Local reported Thursday.

The pair, a female musician and a male real estate agent, were kicked off the bus in Ljungby and arrested on sexual harassment charges.

The couple denied engaging in sexual acts while on the bus.

"I don't understand anything. We did not have sex. She stroked me on my tummy just inside my shirt," the man said in a statement.

DID THE DRIVER ASSAULT THE KIDS????(video)

into the pole

Tags:
local

Classes have been canceled at Hinsdale Middle School after a charter bus hit a phone pole, which led to a power outage.

The pole landed on top of the bus, and the power lines burned a small section of the roof.

No children were injured. They were headed on a band fieldtrip to Branson, Missouri.

The accident knocked out power to more than 600 homes and business.

ABC7 was told the students would continue on their trip after a new bus arrived.

(Copyright ©2010 WLS-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

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long island

A judge has given disabled bus riders in Nassau County another last-minute reprieve from major cuts to the Able-Ride paratransit service, but MTA officials say the changes are inevitable because Nassau County refuses to support its own ailing bus system.

A group of disabled bus riders in Nassau sued the Metropolitan Transportation Authority earlier this month with hopes of stopping the agency's...

SUTTING BUSES UP IN NYC-STORY AND VIDEO HERE

2 bus drivers hurt in Tidal Basin crash

DC Fire officials say that two buses collided in Ohio Drive SW near the Tidal Basin and the mall. The drivers are injured, but the passengers were able to get off the buses on their own, the fire and EMS officials said,

One of the drivers was pinned inside the bus, but has now been freed and taken by a U. S. Park Police helicopter to the hospital, according to DC Fire/EMS.

Ohio Drive remains closed. Be prepared for delays in the area.

-- Theola Labbe'-DeBose

Monday, April 26, 2010

THROUGH THE WALL

Bus crashes through pub garden wall

By Mike Wright
April 26, 2010

PUNTERS in Frimley Green had a lucky escape after a bus came off the road and went crashing through the wall of a pub garden on Monday April 19.

People had been enjoying the weather and a spot of lunch at the Rose and Thistle when the number 48 to Farborough careered off Guildford Road at around 1.45pm.

There was only the driver and a passenger onboard, who both had to be let out of the emergency exit at the rear of the vehicle by the fire brigade.

The crash caused a 6ft brick wall to collapse onto a table in the pub’s garden.

However Annie Cowell, the Rose and Thistle’s landlady, said there was no one sitting at the table as she had forgotten to return the chairs she had removed from it the day before.

“On Sunday the sun had moved so I moved the chairs from the table into the car park for some of my customers,” she said

“I planned to move them back in the morning but forgot. If I had some one would have been sitting there, it is a favourite table with the customers. It was pure fate.”

DRIVER ACCUSED OF "STANDING" ON CHILD

A Mossyrock school bus driver is accused of standing on a disabled 7-year-old boy to keep him from moving around the bus. And the boy's mother wants the driver to be charged with assault.

Gage Hagedorn is a typical energetic second-grader, but he needs a little help getting around. He was born with serious medical complications that force him to rely on crutches to get around.

His mother admits the boy was getting a little rambunctious on the day of the incident. There was a dispute between the boy and other kids on the bus, and surveillance footage captured the boy crawling under a seat.

Susan Hagedorn says that's when the bus driver stepped on Gage Hagedorn to stop him from going any further.

"She put one foot on him and held him to the floor. And it did not happen once, but twice," the mother said. "The first time it happened, Gage did not cry. The second time it happened, it was very loud and clear that he was crying from the bus driver standing on him to hold him down."

Susan Hagedorn was shown the video footage by the school district. KOMO News' request for a copy of the footage was denied by Mossyrock School District Superintendent Karen Ernest, who also refused to comment.

But Susan Hagedorn was told by the district's transportation director that the bus driver has been placed on paid administrative leave. That's not enough to ease the concerns of the boy's mother.

"I would like the bus driver charged with assault, and I would like to see her not driver a school bus for children," she said. "It broke my heart to know that a school official who's there to serve and protect our children had the audacity to stand on my son to hold him to the floor."

The Lewis County sheriff's Office is investigating.

Susan Hagedorn kept her son home from school on Friday. She said she plans to drive him to school herself every day next week until she learns more about how the district plans to handle the incident.

BUS SAFETY CONCERNS

At a public meeting last week about the Multi-Cultural Center of Sioux Falls, City Councilor De Knudson shared a plea from a citizen.

"Please look at history of buses/inspections," it said.

The center uses at least two vehicles to transport dozens of schoolchildren to programs at the facility on North Main Avenue. For employees and at least one of its after-school programs, they have been an ongoing concern for years.


On a field trip during a summer camp operated by the center, a school bus driver from another town "threatened to turn the MCC in for endangering kids" because of the condition of its bus, a staff member stated in a 2008 report obtained by the Argus Leader. The employee was extremely concerned about safety, according to the report compiled that year by a private consultant working with the Multi-Cultural Center.

"One of the drivers made a comment once, 'I would hate to know how many laws we break each day,' " the report states.

A separate study this year, by the University of South Dakota Government Research Bureau, did not cover bus safety but was critical of the center's management.

Concerns that the buses have not been inspected have been resolved, says Doug Barthel, the Sioux Falls police chief and a member of the Multi-Cultural Center board.

"As a board member, I do know the buses have been inspected and any issues were brought up to standard," he said. "As a board member, we're very satisfied that the buses have been put into proper order and they are safe."

The South Dakota Highway Patrol was involved in those inspections, as they are with other vehicles used by churches and other nonprofit groups. The Highway Patrol inspected one of the Multi-Cultural Center's two vehicles in late February, and the other one in early March, said Terry Woster, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Maintenance isn't the only concern involving the buses. Discipline problems have been an ongoing issue.

In 2006, one of the tutors in a reading program at the center identified transportation of the children as a major problem.

http://www.argusleader.com/article/20100426/NEWS/4260324/1001

CRASH IN PENFIELD

School Bus Accident
School Bus Accident
Penfield, N.Y. – Two school buses and a pickup were in an accident around 7:30 a.m. Monday near the corner of Atlantic and Five Mile Line Roads.

Emergency crews responded; some injuries were reported, although none was believed to be serious.

Stopped at a red light, a BOCES bus, carrying one student, one attendant and the driver, was hit from behind by a pickup and pushed into a First Student Bus. Only the bus drivers were taken to Rochester General Hospital -- with minor injuries.

Police say the pickup driver, 54-year old Russel Dronzeuski was distracted. He was ticketed for following too closely.

The BOCES bus was headed for Willink Middle School in Webster.

Eleven kids and the driver were aboard the First Student Bus headed to Bay Trail Middle School, but no one was injured.

BUS MOWED THEM OVER

accident.jpgJamie and Ryan Hammel The father of a survivor of Saturday night's horrific TriMet wreck that left two dead said his daughter and her husband were sideswiped and that the women who died were struck head-on.

Jamie Hammel's father, Mark Caton, of Beaverton, said his daughter is in “pretty bad pain" after surviving the wreck. He said that on the night of the accident, his daughter had gone out with her husband, Ryan, Ryan’s sister and two friends.

He said his daughter told him she and her friends had left Harvey's Comedy Club after a sold-out 10 p.m. show with comedian Jeff Burghart. They were in the crosswalk at Northwest Glisan Street and Broadway, one block away, approaching Ryan Hammel's car when “the bus mowed them over.”

Caton said his daughter and her husband were struck by the side of the bus but that Jenee Hammel, 26, of Gresham, and Danielle Sale, 22, of Vancouver, “were hit dead on.” Both died. Hammel, Ryan Hammel's sister, is survived by a young son.

Robert E. Gittings, 22, of Idaho, remains in serious condition this morning at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.

Caton said Jenee Hammel sang at his daughter’s wedding and had planned to sing at his son’s wedding this August. “She was a very nice, sweet young woman,” he said. “She had her whole life ahead of her.”

Jamie and Ryan Hammel married in January and live in Southeast Portland. He said his daughter, a Beaverton High School graduate, works at an Alzheimer's care center in Washington and her husband works at a company that installs residential elevators.

Jenee Hammel's family is holding a candlelight memorial at 9 p.m. tonight. The memorial for Hammel and Sale will be held at the intersection of Northwest Broadway and Glisan -- the site of the fatal wreck.

Stephen Radie, 34, of Aloha, was in his car with his wife and friends when they heard screams and saw people running out of the intersection of Northwest Broadway and Glisan. He said he was about two-thirds of a block from where a TriMet bus had struck a group of friends.

Radie parked his car, then dashed to the scene. He said police and paramedics had not yet arrived. One woman was trapped under the rear tire of the bus and a woman knelt next to her. He said the woman appeared to have already died.

Radie then walked to the front of the bus and saw two other people trapped. A woman was pressed against the front tire, and a man lay wounded next to her. The woman died, Radie said. And the man was clearly suffering and not alert.

“Help is coming,” Radie said to them. “Hold on.”

Radie said the crowd of about 30 or so people stood by helplessly waiting for emergency personnel.

“You couldn’t get to him,” he said. “You couldn’t do anything but talk to them. It was a really chaotic scene. People were running everywhere. I think even the cops were overwhelmed by what they saw when they got there.”

He said paramedics arrived, jacked up the bus and extracted the three victims.

Radie, a father of three, said he is trained in first aid but he couldn’t reach the victims. “You couldn’t get your hands in to help them physically. You could only say a prayer and let them know you are going to get them out of there.”

LONDON TRANSIT BOMBING LAWSUIT

[JURIST] Lawyers for victims of the July 7, 2005 London transit bombings [JURIST news archive] argued on Monday in the Royal Courts of Justice that UK authorities possessed information that could have helped them prevent the attacks. The theory for the case is built on intelligence that British security service MI5 [official website] and the London police had uncovered about the four suicide bombers prior to the attacks. Counsel for bereaved families argued that the UK government breached obligations to its citizens under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights [text], which provides for the right to life. MI5 and the Home Secretary [official website] argued in response to the prosecution's arguments that the matter has already been investigated in the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) [official website] and that the intelligence could undermine law enforcement efforts if made public. The hearing is scheduled to last for three days.

In January, the UK government introduced a scheme [JURIST report] for compensating victims of overseas terrorism, using a plan that closely mirrors that used to compensate families of the July 2005 bombings [BBC backgrounder]. In November, London police reached a settlement [JURIST report] with the family of a man mistaken for one of the terrorist suspects involved in the bomb plot. In April 2008, the UK Court of Appeal rejected the appeal [JURIST report] of four men found guilty of plotting the London attacks. The 2005 bombings targeted three trains and one bus, killing 52 people and injuring at least 770.

FEDS LOOK AT TRANSIT SECURITY

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is linked most closely in the popular consciousness with aviation security, but its mandate also extends to protecting rail and transit systems -- a job that needs to get more attention from the agency, according to senior senators from both parties.

0329_US_Subway_Security_full_380.jpgSecurity on New York City's subway, above, was boosted last month after transit bombings in Moscow. (Photo: AP)

At a Thursday hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the TSA, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) noted that the agency has yet to finish a rail security risk assessment and strategy outline that Congress ordered up by 2008 at the latest.

"Get going" on strengthening TSA's surface transport security work, Lautenberg told David Heyman, assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). "This is an outrage that it's taken so long. This is like the traffic cop standing on the sidewalk and watching the traffic go by [not thinking] about when he ought to interrupt the flow to keep the cars from crashing into one another."

The commerce panel's senior Republican, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX), also raised pointed questions about TSA's policy of conducting inspections at the top 50 U.S. transit networks once every three years.

"Does that seem like enough supervision," Hutchison asked, "if the transit agencies know that once an inspection is done, they won't be inspected for three years?"

Heyman described the inspection schedule as "in sync with the granting cycle" that TSA uses for rail security funding. "There are about 5,000 transit sites across the country, and given the limited [number of] inspectors, that's the tempo of operations I think that can be sustained at this point," he told Hutchison.

The DHS is the parent agency of TSA, which has lacked a permanent leader since the White House's second nominee for the post in two months withdrew his name from consideration amid media scrutiny.

The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new audit of TSA in advance of the hearing that focused on its unfinished business in gauging security vulnerabilities on local rail and roads. Stephen Lord, the GAO's homeland security director, told the commerce panel that the locally-managed nature of many transit systems heightens the importance of the agency's collaboration with state and local governments, as well as private-sector operators, all the more important.
"TSA needs to do a better job of interacting with ... transit stakeholders," Lord said. "There's a lot of expertise there that we're not certain TSA has actually taken advantage

ORCA CARD FRUSTRATES

The little blue ORCA smart card now is a common sight around the Puget Sound. About 470,000 customers have been issued an ORCA card since the system launched last April, and it gets used on about 200,000 daily transit trips.

The ORCA, which stands for One Regional Card for All, was meant to bring the convenience of modern technologies to our transit system. It is intended to replace various passes, tokens and paper transfer slips between partner agencies, which includes Community Transit, Everett Transit, King County Metro Transit, Kitsap Transit, Pierce Transit, Sound Transit and Washington State Ferries. That helps transit agencies, who previously had to redistribute about $100 million per year in regional fares.

photo

The card costs $5. Those who qualify for reduced fares can buy one for $3. You can store between $5 and $300 on the card's "e-purse," as well as a regional transit pass.

Many people appreciate no longer having to fumble through change while boarding the bus. As with any new system, there have been glitches. Sound Transit, which oversees the ORCA system, is listening to feedback and tweaking the system to improve how it functions. Below are a few frustrations that people shared with seattlepi.com.

Question:

Before ORCA replaced paper transfer slips, Stanley Green could ride buses from North Seattle to a destination in Tacoma by paying one fare and transferring between three buses.

As long as he transferred between each bus within two hours, he was good to go. Drivers would hand him transfer slips between each ride.

ORCA now calculates and deducts the value of transfers and keeps track of that two-hour window down to the minute. But there is an anomaly if you transfer between buses inside the downtown Seattle Ride Free Area, as Green has learned. And it creates situations where his two-hour window expires before he makes all his transfers. The reason: If you catch a bus inside the downtown zone, you don't pay until the end of your trip. Outside of downtown, you pay when you board. So, if you ride a bus from outside downtown and transfer inside the Ride Free Area, your two hours are still being counted from when you caught the first bus because you don't tap your card again until you alight the second bus. If either bus is slowed by rush-hour traffic, your two hours might be over before the trip ends and you'll be charged another fare.

"I have had several experiences of having to pay a second full fare, even though I am boarding the next vehicle within two hours of having paid the first fare with ORCA," Green says.

"It's a de facto fare increase."

Answer:

Sound Transit is aware that situation can arise and has developed a remedy for it, said Geoff Patrick, an agency spokesman.

"It's not a frequent occurrence, but it's happened enough that we've acknowledged it's an issue," he said.

To avoid that from happening, bus drivers have been instructed to allow riders to tap their cards earlier in the trip if coming from inside the Ride Free Area.

"If a rider has an issue within a two-hour window, they can wait until after the bus has exited the Seattle Ride Free Zone and then tap their card. If they're headed south anywhere along the busway on Royal Brougham or Lander (Street) or one of those stops, riders can go up and tap their card and avoid having to wait the entire duration of the trip," he says.

"We want to provide that transfer credit within two hours, so that means when they got the bus, and not when they get off the bus," he says.

Question:

John McKinney frequently rides Sound Transit buses from Tacoma to Seattle and isn't too impressed with ORCA. That's because he has an ORCA horror story.

He loaded $26 onto his account last August but didn't need to use the card again until about six months later. But when he tried to take a bus in February from the Tacoma Dome station to catch a flight at Sea-Tac Airport for business, the card wouldn't work. The electronic reader kept flashing "insufficient funds," he says.

It was 4 a.m. outside the Tacoma Dome station and the Sound Transit driver wouldn't cut him any slack. He tried to explain that his account should have had plenty of credit, but he was told to get off the bus. He called his girlfriend for a ride and nearly missed his flight.

He later learned the card had been frozen because he didn't tap it against an electronic card reader within 30 days of putting money on his account, as ORCA requires. After contacting customer service, he was sent a letter assuring him the account would be unfrozen after March 1. But it didn't happen. He called again and was told he needed to tap the card at the office where he purchased it -- a Pierce Transit office in Tacoma. That didn't work either. Customer clerks at the Pierce Transit office said he needed to call the ORCA customer service number. Frustrated, he did, and a customer service representative finally fixed the problem. That was three weeks after the ordeal began.

"Hopefully my experience hasn't happened to too many people," he said. "I think as long as you're really careful with what you're doing and make no mistakes, everything should be fine. But if you make a mistake like I did, it creates hassles for months."

He'd like to see improvements in ORCA customer service and wonders why Sound Transit couldn't program the system to e-mail ORCA users when their card is about to be frozen. Also, he thinks the bus driver could have given him some leeway.

Answer:

ORCA users are required to tap the card after loading their e-purse via online. Many first-time users forgot or didn't realize that. It was one of the most common complaints about the ORCA system, Sound Transit spokesman Geoff Patrick says.

Sound Transit has since changed ORCA policy to allow users up to 60 days to tap their card, he said. The window was extended in March due to customer feedback, he said.

A time limit, however, is necessary to keep the system functioning, Patrick said. Tapping the card allows ORCA to download any changes to your account -- such as money loaded to your e-purse -- to the card's microchip. After you put money in your ORCA account, the system essentially waits to make contact with your card. If too many transactions were pending at once, the system would bog down, Patrick said.

"The way the system works -- at any given time, there are thousands of pending transactions that need to be loaded onto people's cards. If you had no limit, what you would have is a system-wide deterioration of the performance. Therefore we emphasize that if you paid online or by credit, you have to tap within (60 days). You can't wait for three or four years before you use the card again," Patrick said.

Another common source of confusion, Patrick said, is that it can take up to 24 hours to process if you load money into your ORCA card online. To avoid waiting, you can replenish your account via ticket-vending machines, which are placed at Sound Transit light rail transit stations or customer service offices.

Customers whose accounts are locked should call the ORCA customer service line at 1-888-988-6722, Patrick said.

As for McKinney's suggestion about e-mail alerts, Patrick said Sound Transit is considering that option for the future. "It's something we want to take a look at," he said. It could be possible for a number of issues, including to notify people when their transit passes are about to expire. There were other more immediate issues that had to be worked out first, he said.

As for McKinney's poor experience with customer service, Patrick said he couldn't speak to exactly what happened. "Clearly that represents a glitch in our response and one we owe him an apology for," he said.

As for the bus driver not allowing McKinney on-board, Patrick said each operator has discretion and can decide to allow some leniency.

Question:

David Wong recently took Sound Transit's Route 550 bus between the Rainier Avenue stop and the International District transit station. He noticed the driver still had the meter set for two zones, instead of one. The driver reset the meter when Wong pointed it out. But when he paid, an extra 50 cents was mistakenly deducted from his e-purse, even though his monthly pass should have covered the fare. (His fare was $1.50 and his pass covers up to $2). He reported the error and asked that 50 cents be credited electronically to his account. ORCA acknowledged the error, but instead mailed him a ticket for a free bus ride. The money couldn't be credited to his account because a $5 minimum must be deposited into an ORCA account.

The same thing happened to him twice more since he first contacted seattlepi.com.

"I assume this means the glitch that affected me is still taking excess money out of other riders' Orca card e-purses," he said.

He'd like to if Sound Transit is fixing the problem and whether it's a widespread issue. He's also frustrated that his card can't be reimbursed. The free bus ticket sent to him is only good on Metro Transit and it seems like it would be cheaper just to electronically credit him, he said.

"I'm not a novice at riding public transportation. I've been riding Metro since I was a kid. I have stored-value cards from several other cities that implemented the system before Orca, including London, Hong Kong, Beijing, Chicago, and Urumqi. I understand how these things work. I just feel that, in addition to the glitches in calculating fares correctly, Orca has a lot of room for improvement," he said.

Answer:

Sound Transit has no information to suggest ORCA overcharges are a large-scale problem, Patrick says. But it can occasionally happen if a bus driver forgets to reset the electronic card reader while within a zone.

Sound Transit is working with ERG, the system vendor, to enable refunds of less than $5 to be credited directly to customers' ORCA cards. "But for the moment, the approach we take is to offe

LAID OFF AND PISSED

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB Fox 41) -- No one likes to get the word he or she is losing a job.

Over the weekend, several bus drivers and transit authority maintenance workers got certified letters telling them they're on the chopping block. Monday, TARC board members and the chairman got an earful.

Erica Levy is a driver who's upset.

"I left a great opportunity to come here -- I did," she said. "I'm not just any crap off the street -- that's walking off the street. I actually gave up a position to come here. I actually really liked this job -- I really did. And I felt so small...that you would mail me a letter like I really didn't matter."

Click HERE to view TARC's recommended changes.

Like her colleagues, she's hurt because they didn't get the word face-to-face from transit authority bosses. Thirty-nine transportation department workers -- mostly drivers and six maintenance workers -- will be fired or given the option to work part-time.

"You know, it's ugly," TARC Director Barry Barker tells Fox 41. "We don't want to be put in this situation. We're putting 40 to 50 people out of a job."

TARC says it has to be done. Today the board also approved the elimination of four routes, and changed or altered several others. The transit authority increased express fares by a dollar, to $2.50 one way, and increased senior and disability fares by fifty cents on express routes.

The new schedules take effect June 6. The fare increases July 1. The employee layoffs, June 6.

NO BONUSES AT UTA

SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah Transit Authority will not pay out the annual bonus to employees this spring. The decision comes at a time in which UTA has come under fire for what some see as exorbitant executive salaries. Last week Gov. Gary Herbert said he was shocked when he learned UTA's acting chief executive officer John Inglish earns $348,929 a year between his salary and bonuses, an amount Herbert called "excessive." Several other UTA officials make more than $200,000 a year, not including bonuses.

Typically, about 250 executives, managers and staffers receive incentive checks each spring, based on performance of the previous year.

But the funds in the coffers at UTA have dwindled, and UTA has cut back bus and train service. Utahns in the six-county area in which UTA operates and receives a portion of sales taxes have been spending less money, thanks to the recession.

Canceling the bonuses may calm the nerves of some Utahns who have criticized UTA recently over Inglish's salary, which makes him one of the highest paid public transit officials in the U.S. Last year, Inglish received a bonus of $42,840.

"The UTA executive team has been meeting over the past few weeks in an ongoing effort to balance the 2010 budget," said UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter. "The decision not to pay a performance incentive this year (2010) was finalized (recently) and planned to be announced at the April 28 board meeting as part of the board discussion on 2009 goal achievement."
Story continues below

UTA's budget years are the same as calendar years, and in December, when UTA's Board of Trustees approved a $181.8 million operating budget for 2010 they ordered Inglish and his staff to trim $6.5 million to come in the black by the end of the year. At the beginning of April, bus and train routes were scaled back, which will result in about $3 million in savings.

UTA employees also have not received a pay raise this year, and UTA isn't paying for increases in health insurance premiums, meaning employees are taking home less money this year than last.

Salt Lake City resident Tammi Diaz, whose routes have been affected by recent UTA changes, said she likes the idea that UTA employees will feel the budget crunch, since the public has. But she wants Inglish, who has been UTA's general manager for 13 years and will likely be promoted to CEO by the trustees on Wednesday, to feel money cuts more sharply. "When it comes to the executive salaries, I'm not pleased with them," she said.

GOTTA REPLACE LOCKS AT NYC

NYC Transit may have to replace locks on emergency gates throughout its 468 subway stations because too many keys are the hands of subway scammers, agency head Tom Prendergast said Monday.

Transit has begun an audit to determine how many keys have been issued over the years and to whom, Prendergast said at the MTA's transit committee meeting.

If the audit determines too many keys have fallen into the wrong hands - the keys are supposed to be used only by firefighters and certain authorized transit workers - then the agency will change locks wholesale, Prendergast said.

"If that's required, that's what we're going to do," he said.

The Daily News reported on the key problem in an exclusive story Sunday.

MTA board member said farebeating seems rampant.

"People just go through with impunity," Albert said.

NYPD Transit Bureau Chief Diaz said police are targeting trouble spots

For all crimes and offenses, transit police have made 12,359 arrests January through March and issued more than 30,000 summonses.

Crime is at a historic low.

Officials said that keys in the wrong hands is not a security issue but a "farebeating issue."

One problem may be that scammers vandalize MetroCard vending machines in unstaffed entrances so they don't accept dollar bills.

"The machines are always broken," a stations cleaner said, speaking anonymously.

"They make it so people can't buy MetroCards so people have to come to them and pay them to get in."



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/04/26/2010-04-26_nyc_transit_scrambles_to_replace_subway_emergency_gate_locks_as_copied_27_magic_.html#ixzz0mFAPwQCG

Saturday, April 24, 2010

BLUE LINE COMPLAINT

Charanjeet resident of Yamuna Nagar, Jagadhari would like to complain about the misbehavior of Drive & conductor of Blue Line Bus( private bus ). On 22.04.10 around 7.15 P.M. I alongwith my wife boarded the route no . 405 bust from Nizammuddin, & at about ITO the conductor of the Bus shifted us alongwith other few passenger to another bus which ply from Jhangirpuri to Bus Stand(might be kashmire gate) I have the number of that bus i.e.DL-IB-9151. Conductor of the bus again started fare from us when we told them that we had already paid the fare to previous bus they (2 conductor around the age of 22 & Driver lean old man aournd 40) start misbehaving with us & not ready to listen to us. I would like that some action must be taken against them.

Regards
charanjeet
+91 9896225369

ISRAEL

Arabs stoned an Israeli bus driving east of Shechem Thursday afternoon. No one was injured, but there was damage to the bus. IDF troops were looking for the culprits.

ANOTHER DISNEY CRASH

Car hits Walt Disney World bus
By Leah Zanolla
Apr 18, 2010


Another traffic accident involving a Walt Disney World bus occurred this morning. A car was trying to make a u-turn in front of Fort Wilderness and ran into the bus. Reports suggest that the driver of the car will be ticketed. 30 passengers were on board the bus, but no one was injured.

This is the third crash involving a Disney bus this month

MAN ATTACKED IN SEATTLE

VIDEO

Principal and Bus Driver Save Kids From Burning Vehicle

As a principal for Lincoln Elementary in Yankton, South Dakota, Paul Struck is used to noisy kids. But earlier this week, he heard a holler he couldn't ignore.

Struck says, "I was about ready to let the bus go when I heard a boy yelling and I said to the other supervisor, 'Why is he crying all the sudden? Which car is that coming from?' And all the sudden, I looked and there was fire coming from in between the seats, shooting up to the ceiling."

Struck immediately jumped into action and ran to the kids inside the burning vehicle.

"I ran over & I was able to get him out of the front and then there was another little boy in the back – 2nd seat, passenger side – but he was in a car seat, so I tried to hurry and grab him because I noticed another little boy in the back."

But he didn't act alone. A Yankton bus driver grabbed the fire extinguisher from his bus and put out the fire.

Dennis Sundleaf says, "Oh, it was just the reaction. At the right place at the right time, that's all that was."

In a matter of minutes, the children were safe and the fire was out. Now, both men are being called heroes.

Yankton Deputy Fire Chief, Larry Nickles, says, "Just like a firefighter, that puts them into hero status as far as I'm concerned."

The Yankton Fire Department later determined that it was the six year old boy in the front seat that used his mother's lighter to set a tissue on fire. And, while no one got hurt this time, officials say there are many lessons to be learned.

Nickles says, "The biggest one is leaving children that age in a vehicle. Don't leave smoking materials – matches & lighters & things at reach. All it takes is that one time."

Attempts to reach the family were unsuccessful. Authorities say the mother is still very shaken up over what happened, but has vowed to quit smoking.

SEXUAL ASSAULT CHARGED

A bus driver charged in connection with allegations of sexual assault on two Barrie elementary school students has been relieved of his driving duties.

City police and the local Children's Aid Society began a joint investigation on Wednesday into allegations of sexual assault on two students from St. Catherine of Sienna School in the city's north end.


The incidents are alleged to have taken place on the school bus between March 1 and April 19, when the allegations were brought to light, said Barrie police Sgt. Robert Allan.
Police say a 59-year-old male bus driver has been charged with two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference involving a 13-and 14-year-old boy.

"The allegations involve inappropriate touching of a sexual nature," Allan said. "The kids reported it to the school and ultimately, the Children's Aid Society contacted Barrie police to conduct a criminal investigation. The investigation is fairly complete."

He said police are unsure of the specific times the alleged incidents took place.

"There were no allegations of clothing being removed or any exposure of private parts during the incidents," Allan said.

"We don't have any reason to believe other people have been approached. If there are, we'd like to hear from them," he added.

Christine Johnson, director of safety and education for Sinton Transportation, confirmed Friday the driver will not be operating a bus until the allegations have been dealt with.

"Sinton Transportation has taken steps to ensure that our concerned driver will not be in contact with student passengers until the matter has been resolved in a way that ensures the safety and well being of student passengers," she said.

Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board spokesperson Diane Legg said school officials reacted promptly to the allegations.

Truck vs bus

Transit bus and truck collide in Memphis
April 23, 2010 11:42 EDT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- A Memphis transit bus has collided with a tractor-trailer truck in the eastern part of the city.

The collision sent the bus into a tower that holds utility lines, reported WMC-TV.

A reporter at the scene said there were no reports of deaths, but some of about 30 passengers on the Memphis Area Transit Authority bus were taken to hospitals after the crash Friday morning. Others were being treated for minor injuries at the scene.

There was no immediate indication what caused the crash.

------

Information from: WMC-TV, http://www.wmctv.com/

Strike

Here we go again.

Industrial action affecting bus services in Wellington.

With shades what also happened in Auckland late last year, the unions are taking strike action over negotiations with NZ Bus.

The Tramways Union and Manufacturing and Construction Workers Union have given notice to Go Wellington.City Line (Valley Flyer) and Mana bus services of a strike by union members next Wednesday.

Strike action would hit Wellington bus commuters hard

The strike will take place to allow union members to meet at 10.00am to discuss further industrial action with regard to collective agreement negotiations that have not started more than two months after all three companies received notice from the unions requesting initiation of bargaining.

The unions have sought a multi employer regional agreement covering most of Wellington’s public passenger transport drivers.

Secretary of the union’s Wellington branch , Kevin O’Sullivan, said that the employers (NZ Bus & Mana Coach Services) have “refused to agree to a realistic process for negotiations, a process which has not been an issue previously.

“The delaying tactics used by the employers need to cease so that positive and constructive negotiations for the drivers of Wellington’s buses can commence.”

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Anaheim

ANAHEIM – A school bus with more than 80 children on board collided with a Toyota Tundra Friday morning, according to authorities.

The crash occurred at 7:58 a.m. at the intersection of Mira Loma Way and Lawrence Avenue after the bus had just picked up children to take them to Rio Vista Elementary School, according to CHP Officer Devon Boatman.

Article Tab : bus-school-wheeled-studen
A student is wheeled to a waiting ambulance for a trip to St. Joseph Hospital after he complained of chest pains following a school bus accident. The other 82 students on board took another bus to school.
BRUCE CHAMBERS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
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One student got off the bus complaining of chest pain. He was treated by Anaheim paramedics and taken to St. Joseph Hospital.

The students remained on the bus for about an hour before they were transferred on another bus.

Boatman said he has conflicting statements so far as to who was at fault.

The Anaheim police department and theCalifornia Highway Patrol are investigating the accident.

Contact the writer: amolina@ocregister.com or 714-704-3795

Into the ditch

PITTSVILLE -- A Wicomico County school bus with three children aboard went into a ditch and flipped onto its side during a three-vehicle accident Friday afternoon, causing minor injuries to the children and the vehicle's driver.



The driver of the bus, 39-year-old Sherron Mills of Salisbury, was not charged. The other drivers -- Lori Thomas, 46, of Lewes and Marvin Ward, 44, of Salisbury -- were cited for negligence, according to Maryland State Police in Salisbury.

The accident happened just after 4 p.m. on Route 353 in Pittsville when Thomas, in a Chevrolet passenger car, and Ward, in an SUV, both attempted to pass the bus at the same time, the MSP said. The vehicles were traveling south on Gumboro near Workman Road in Pittsville, when Thomas attempted to pass both the bus and Ward, the MSP said. Almost simultaneously, Ward attempted to pass the bus, sending Thomas into the grassy road shoulder where she lost control and collided with the bus on the driver's side.

The impact pushed the bus into a ditch and onto its side, causing minor injuries among bus passengers, the MSP said.

Thomas also had minor injuries, authorities also said.

She was charged with reckless and negligent driving and other minor traffic violations, the MSP said. Ward was charged with negligent driving and unsafe lane changing, the agency reported.

Potty Break Lands Man In Jail

Car slams into bus injuring driver and four students

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Four Douglas High School and Middle School students were sent to local hospitals Friday morning after a car slammed in to the back of their school bus. Firefighters on the scene say it appears the driver of car may have had a seizure causing him to accelerate, slamming into the back of the bus.

The bus was stopped at a red light, but the force of the impact pushed the bus into the intersection at Northeast 23rd and Martin Luther King, blocking the intersection for about an hour.

The driver of the car was transported to a local hospital.

His wife was at the scene; Bonnie Ware says her husband may have suffered internal injuries, but she believes he will make a full recovery.

Kathleen Kennedy with Oklahoma City Public Schools says there were 13 students on the bus at the time of the accident.

She says four students were transported to local hospitals with minor injuries.

The other nine students were either picked up by their parents or transferred to another bus and taken to school; the bus driver was not injured in the accident.

The bus had damage to the back driver's side.

The car that slammed into the bus was smashed in on the front and the roof peeled away; however, witnesses at the scene say the driver was able to get out of the car on his own and was even walking around the scene before he was transported to the hospital.
Video here:

Donald Moore rapes elderly lady

Bus Driver Accused Of Raping Woman With Alzheimer’s Indicted On 3 Charges

Licking County sheriff’s office

UPDATE: A Heath man who is accused of raping an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s is indicted on three charges.

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LICKING COUNTY, Ohio—A Heath man who is accused of raping an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s is indicted on three charges.

NBC 4 reported with the FAST FACTS from the Licking County sheriff’s office.

The Licking County prosecutor’s office indicted 71-year-old Donald Gary Moore on first-degree rape, third-degree sexual battery and fourth-degree gross sexual imposition charges.

Moore is a former bus driver for the Licking County Aging Program. He no longer works for the program.

It is alleged Moore raped a 71-woman in his bus five times between Dec. 1, 2009, and April 15, 2010.

A witness was in the area of the Licking Springs nature trail, 1539 Columbus Rd. in Granville, Thursday, April 15.

The witness called the Licking County sheriff’s office and reported seeing a topless elderly woman in a van in the area of the trail.

In an interview with a detective, Moore admitted to multiple acts of sexual conduct with an elderly female who has Alzheimer’s disease, according to the sheriff’s office.

Moore was arrested at his Heath residence and transported to the sheriff’s office Friday, April 16.

Moore initially was charged with rape, a first-degree felony.

School bus driver caught drunk

Police say a Cumberland County school bus driver was drunk while driving 18 middle school students Friday afternoon.

Charles Wynn, 49, of the 1800 block of Windlock Drive, was driving a bus from Lewis Chapel Middle School when it was rear-ended by a Ford Expedition on Pritchett Road at 2:49 p.m, authorizes say.

Police did a breath test on Wynn at the scene and found his blood alcohol level to be 0.2, more than two times the legal limit of 0.08. The test was given at the scene because Wynn smelled of alcohol, according to arrest papers.

The bus driver blew a 0.18 at the jail when he was processed, according to court documents.

Wynn was charged with driving while subject to an impairing substance, operating a school bus after consuming alcohol and driving while impaired while operating a commercial vehicle, according to police. He spent Friday night in jail on $3,000 secure bond.

Al Miller, assistant director of transportation for the Cumberland County school system, said 18 students were on the bus. Two students were taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center with complaints of discomfort, Miller said. Three were taken by their parents to be checked out, Miller said, although none had any visible injuries.

Police released the remaining children into the custody of their parents before school system staff arrived on the scene, Miller said.

The driver of the Expedition that hit the school bus also was charged. Travis Hunter, 29, of the 6600 block of Flintshire Road, was charged with failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and operating a vehicle with a revoked license, according to Fayetteville police.

Superintendent Frank Till said the county has zero tolerance for the behavior of which the bus driver is accused. Till said Wynn was a substitute bus driver for the county. He also is a custodian at Seventy-First High School.

Till said Wynn's job status will be reviewed.

"Clearly, the person was wrong for this," Till said. "If the police hadn't caught him, we would have under our procedures," meaning the systems random drug screenings, Till said.

Till and Miller could not say how long Wynn had been driving school buses for the count