Tcrp Report 66
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TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH TCRP PROGRAM REPORT 66 Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration Effective Practices to Reduce Bus Accidents TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL TCRP OVERSIGHT AND PROJECT TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2001 SELECTION COMMITTEE OFFICERS CHAIR LINDA S. WATSON Chair: John M. Samuels, Senior VP-Operations Planning & Support, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Norfolk, VA Corpus Christi RTA Vice Chair: Thomas R. Warne, Executive Director, Utah DOT Executive Director: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board MEMBERS DANNY ALVAREZ Miami-Dade Transit Agency MEMBERS GORDON AOYAGI WILLIAM D. ANKNER, Director, Rhode Island DOT Montgomery County Government THOMAS F. BARRY, JR., Secretary of Transportation, Florida DOT JEAN PAUL BAILLY JACK E. BUFFINGTON, Associate Director and Research Professor, Mack-Blackwell National Rural Union Internationale des Transports Publics Transportation Study Center, University of Arkansas J. BARRY BARKER SARAH C. CAMPBELL, President, TransManagement, Inc., Washington, DC Transit Authority of River City E. DEAN CARLSON, Secretary of Transportation, Kansas DOT LEE BARNES JOANNE F. CASEY, President, Intermodal Association of North America Barwood, Inc. JAMES C. CODELL III, Transportation Secretary, Transportation Cabinet, Frankfort, KY RONALD L. BARNES JOHN L. CRAIG, Director, Nebraska Department of Roads Central Ohio Transit Authority ROBERT A. FROSCH, Sr. Research Fellow, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University GERALD L. BLAIR GORMAN GILBERT, Director, Oklahoma Transportation Center, Oklahoma State University Indiana County Transit Authority GENEVIEVE GIULIANO, Professor, School of Policy, Planning, and Development, USC, Los Angeles ANDREW BONDS, JR. LESTER A. HOEL, L. A. Lacy Distinguished Professor, Depart. of Civil Engineering, University of Virginia Parsons Transportation Group, Inc. H. THOMAS KORNEGAY, Exec. Dir., Port of Houston Authority ROBERT I. BROWNSTEIN BRADLEY L. MALLORY, Secretary of Transportation, Pennsylvania DOT Booz-Allen & Hamilton, Inc. MICHAEL D. MEYER, Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of RONALD L. FREELAND Technology Maryland MTA JEFFREY R. MORELAND, Exec. VP-Law and Chief of Staff, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., CONSTANCE GARBER Fort Worth, TX York County Community Action Corp. SID MORRISON, Secretary of Transportation, Washington State DOT SHARON GREENE JOHN P. POORMAN, Staff Director, Capital District Transportation Committee, Albany, NY Sharon Greene & Associates CATHERINE L. ROSS, Executive Director, Georgia Regional Transportation Agency KATHERINE M. HUNTER-ZAWORSKI WAYNE SHACKELFORD, Senior VP, Gresham Smith & Partners, Alpharetta, GA Oregon State University PAUL P. SKOUTELAS, CEO, Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, PA ROBERT H. IRWIN MICHAEL S. TOWNES, Exec. Dir., Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads, Hampton, VA British Columbia Transit MARTIN WACHS, Director, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California at Berkeley JOYCE HOBSON JOHNSON MICHAEL W. WICKHAM, Chairman and CEO, Roadway Express, Inc., Akron, OH North Carolina A&T State University JAMES A. WILDING, President and CEO, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority CELIA G. KUPERSMITH M. GORDON WOLMAN, Prof. of Geography and Environmental Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District EX OFFICIO MEMBERS PAUL J. LARROUSSE National Transit Institute MIKE ACOTT, President, National Asphalt Pavement Association DAVID A. LEE EDWARD A. BRIGHAM, Acting Deputy Admin., Research and Special Programs Administration, U.S.DOT Connecticut Transit BRUCE J. CARLTON, Acting Deputy Administrator, Maritime Administration, U.S.DOT EVA LERNER-LAM JULIE A. CIRILLO, Assist. Admin. & Chief Safety Officer, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, The Palisades Consulting Group, Inc. U.S.DOT ROBERT H. PRINCE, JR. SUSAN M. COUGHLIN, Director and COO, The American Trucking Associations Foundation, Inc. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority ROBERT B. FLOWERS (Lt. Gen., U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commander, U.S. Army Corps of RICHARD J. SIMONETTA Engineers Prima Facie, Inc. HAROLD K. FORSEN, Foreign Secretary, National Academy of Engineering PAUL P. SKOUTELAS JANE F. GARVEY, Federal Aviation Administrator, U.S.DOT Port Authority of Allegheny County EDWARD R. HAMBERGER, President and CEO, Association of American Railroads PAUL A. TOLIVER JOHN C. HORSLEY, Exec. Dir., American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials King County Metro S. MARK LINDSEY, Acting Deputy Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration, U.S.DOT HIRAM J. WALKER JAMES M. LOY (Adm., U.S. Coast Guard), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard FTA WILLIAM W. MILLAR, President, American Public Transportation Association AMY YORK MARGO T. OGE, Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, U.S. EPA Amalgamated Transit Union VALENTIN J. RIVA, President and CEO, American Concrete Pavement Association VINCENT F. SCHIMMOLLER, Deputy Exec. Dir., Federal Highway Administration, U.S.DOT EX OFFICIO MEMBERS ASHISH K. SEN, Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S.DOT WILLIAM W. MILLAR L. ROBERT SHELTON III, Exec. Dir., National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S.DOT APTA MICHAEL R. THOMAS, Applications Division Dir., Office of Earth Sciences Enterprise, NASA VINCENT F. SCHIMMOLLER HIRAM J. WALKER, Acting Deputy Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, U.S.DOT FHWA JOHN C. HORSLEY TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM AASHTO ROBERT E. SKINNER, JR. Transportation Research Board Executive Committee Subcommittee for TCRP TRB JOHN M. SAMUELS, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Norfolk, VA (Chair) LESTER A. HOEL, University of Virginia TDC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WILLIAM W. MILLAR, American Public Transportation Association LOUIS F. SANDERS ROBERT E. SKINNER, JR., Transportation Research Board APTA PAUL P. SKOUTELAS, Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, PA MICHAEL S. TOWNES, Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads, Hampton, VA SECRETARY MARTIN WACHS, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California at Berkeley ROBERT J. REILLY HIRAM J. WALKER, Federal Transit Administration, U.S.DOT TRB THOMAS R. WARNE, Utah DOT TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TCRP REPORT 66 Effective Practices to Reduce Bus Accidents TECHNOLOGY & MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, INC. Burlington, MA SUBJECT AREAS Public Transit Research Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration in Cooperation with the Transit Development Corporation TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD — NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS WASHINGTON, D.C. — 2001 TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TCRP REPORT 66 The nation’s growth and the need to meet mobility, Project A-18 FY’96 environmental, and energy objectives place demands on public ISSN 1073-4872 transit systems. Current systems, some of which are old and in need ISBN 0-309-06674-3 of upgrading, must expand service area, increase service frequency, Library of Congress Control Number 2001-131576 and improve efficiency to serve these demands. Research is necessary to solve operating problems, to adapt appropriate new © 2001 Transportation Research Board technologies from other industries, and to introduce innovations into Price $33.00 the transit industry. The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) serves as one of the principal means by which the transit industry can develop innovative near-term solutions to meet demands placed on it. The need for TCRP was originally identified in TRB Special Report 213—Research for Public Transit: New Directions, published in 1987 and based on a study sponsored by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration—now the Federal Transit Admin- istration (FTA). A report by the American Public Transportation NOTICE Association (APTA), Transportation 2000, also recognized the need The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the Transit Cooperative for local, problem-solving research. TCRP, modeled after the Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the longstanding and successful National Cooperative Highway approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such Research Program, undertakes research and other technical activities approval reflects the Governing Board’s judgment that the project concerned is in response to the needs of transit service providers. The scope of appropriate with respect to both the purposes and resources of the National TCRP includes a variety of transit research fields including plan- Research Council. ning, service configuration, equipment, facilities, operations, human The members of the technical advisory panel selected to monitor this project and resources, maintenance, policy, and administrative practices. to review this report were chosen for recognized scholarly competence and with TCRP was established under FTA sponsorship in July 1992. due consideration for the balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The Proposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, TCRP was opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency authorized as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation that performed the research, and while they have been accepted as appropriate Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). On May 13, 1992, a memorandum by the technical panel, they are not necessarily those of the Transportation agreement outlining TCRP operating