Safety upgrades eyed by TTC already standard in York region
Talking buses, dashcams among the tech used north of Steeles
It looks like any other York Region bus. But just as the No. 20 is about to pull away from the curb at the Vaughan Mills Centre loop, it issues a clear warning: “Pedestrians. Bus is turning.”
The halting electronic voice is issued automatically from a speaker on the exterior of the bus. The driver doesn’t need to do a thing to caution anyone on the curb against stepping into the bus’s path.
There are 10 talking buses in York Region, and there will be more. York Region buses are also equipped with forward- facing dashboard cameras and rear-facing cameras.
The safety technology, standard in a growing number of transit agencies, is among the measures being investigated by the TTC, over the objections of its employees’ union, which fears the technology will be used to police drivers.
The TTC says new tools could help avoid tragedies such as the December death of Amaria Diljohn, who was killed by a turning bus.
They’re also part of the overall modernization of the third-largest transit system in North America, said Richard Leary, TTC chief service officer, who was recruited from York Region last year.
“It really has helped us understand the details around an accident.” ANN-MARIE CARROLL YORK REGION TRANSIT GENERAL MANAGER
The TTC is testing a dashcam but it isn’t yet committed to installing them, he said.
“I want to be able to sell to everybody (that) it’s the right thing to do. Because it’s new to this organization, people are a little nervous. We’ve got to educate everybody on the proper change and how we’ll use it,” said Leary.
North of Steeles Ave., cameras are in fact exonerating bus drivers who might otherwise be blamed for collisions, said Ann-Marie Carroll, York Region Transit general manager.
“It really has helped us understand the details around an accident. We can tell whether it’s a driver issue. A lot of times, people drive around a bus and make a right-hand turn and say that it was the bus’s fault. So we can clearly see those kinds of things,” she said.
“It’s surprising how many people claim that they don’t see a 60-foot bus in front of them and drive into the back of it,” said Carroll.
Liability claims against the transit system have been substantially reduced with proof caught on camera, too, she said.
By using cameras on its buses, York Region Transit has reduced liability claims against it
“A lot of our claims were around bodily injury: ‘The driver hit the brake too hard, I fell down and hurt myself.’ We’re able to substantiate all those claims,” said Carroll.
Like the TTC, YRT introduced cameras on the understanding that it wouldn’t go “fishing” for bad driver behaviour.
“What we did make clear was, if we are looking at video because there’s been an incident and we witness through that video something that the driver has done that is inappropriate, then it has to be dealt with,” said Carroll.
She acknowledged that it’s up to the transit contractor, however, to discipline its employees.
TTC workers are already under intense scrutiny and pressure to meet schedules that haven’t kept pace with Toronto traffic and road conditions, said Bob Kinnear, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union.
It may not be a conscious decision to speed, he said, but, “When you deviate further and further from schedule, it motivates you to pick it up.”
In a move Kinnear said he could support, but which transit blogger Steve Munro called a “bizarre response,” the TTC is experimenting with masking the dashboard communications devices that tell operators whether they’re behind or ahead of schedule.
“The very mechanism that the TTC might use to manage service and ensure reasonable vehicle spacing will be disabled,” Munro wrote of the idea.
The pilot isn’t finished yet. But the message to operators is: Drive to the road and weather conditions, and posted speeds, said Leary. “I don’t want them to feel pressured, or uncomfortable, or that they’re behind schedule,” he said.
“I don’t want people speeding. If I’m speeding and you’re driving at the right speed, all of a sudden gaps (in service) occur. I just want people to operate to a comfortable, consistent and safe speed. Then we’ll get good schedules based on that,” he said, adding that TTC schedules are based on the real time it takes to drive a route.
They are continually reviewed but there’s no way to fully plan for the variables TTC drivers face every day, ranging from traffic accidents to sick riders, Leary said.
“There’s so many things that go on when you carry 1.7 million passengers a day.”