Results tagged “metrobus”

Members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 are encouraging their members who operate Metrobuses to do every single little thing by the book this week. The push comes in the wake of two recent incidents which saw bus drivers plow down pedestrians in the District. Unsuck DC Metro got the ball rolling on this story yesterday, and the Post's Lena Sun later followed up with a story of her own.

You have to feel sorry for the 15-year-old son of Vienna's Jenifer Joy Madden, who got outed by his mom in an op-ed in Sunday's Washington Post for having only just now learned how to ride a bus.

We couched it as another test of their mettle. After all, if these 15-year-olds could swing at objects flying 90 miles an hour and get whacked by titanium lacrosse sticks, they could walk to a bus stop and ride a few miles across town.

The woman who was struck by a Metrobus in Trinidad on Monday evening has died, according to D.C. Police. The victim, who has been identified as Stephanie Richardson, 61, of the 1600 block of 11th Place NE, died at just after 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

In case you missed this story from FOX 5 on Friday night, reporter Ron Plater found that Carla Proctor, the former Metrobus driver behind the wheel of the bus that struck 30-year-old Amanda Mahnke on Sept. 3, is being accused of running the light at the intersection of Connecticut and Florida Avenues before she hit Mahnke.

FOX 5 has learned that police concluded the light was already yellow when the bus driver entered the intersection, and that light turned red when she was midway through the intersection.

Continue reading "Report: Fired Metrobus Driver Ran Light Before Striking Jogger"

That's the word from WTOP's Adam Tuss, who reports that the specific reasons for the termination of 43-year-old Metrobus operator Carla Proctor have not been disclosed. But Proctor, who struck 30-year-old Amanda Mahnke while she was jogging near the intersection of Florida and Connecticut Avenues on Sept. 3, has indeed reportedly been let go by the transit agency. The Washington Post recently reported that Proctor had been involved in two previous, more minor on the job accidents. UPDATE 2:50 p.m. WMATA has put out a statement saying that Proctor was "dismissed for failing to follow standard operating procedures."

WMATA broke ground today on a new Metrobus facility in Southwest that could eventually house and maintain 250 Metrobuses (to start, it'll only hold 114 buses). The new facility is intended to replace the 72-year-old Southeastern Bus Garage – that's the one the agency had to sell and vacate last year because it was so close to Nationals Park. The building isn't yet fully funded but is being financed through a combination of the proceeds from the sale of the Southeastern Bus Garage plus another $30 million from stimulus funds.

The Washington Post's James Hohmann digs into the driving record of Carla Proctor, the Metrobus driver who was behind the wheel of the bus that struck 30-year-old jogger Amanda Mahnke on Sept. 3. Proctor had two previous on-the-job accidents: one in 2004, when she crashed a Metrobus into the back of a parked vehicle on the 1300 block of Wisconsin Ave. NW, and another in 2003, when she allegedly failed to properly apply a brake before she exited a bus to inspect a faulty door. That bus "rolled down a hill and struck a car, setting off a chain of crashes that damaged seven vehicles as well as the bus."

A Metrobus driver and a bicyclist had a minor collision at the intersection of 14th Street and New York Ave. NW this morning, Metro's Taryn McNeil confirmed. The incident occurred at about 11:45 a.m. this morning.

The Metrobus driver who struck 30-year-old jogger Amanda Mahnke at the intersection of Connecticut and Florida Avenues NW last week was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to a statement given to WTOP's Adam Tuss by Metro spokesperson Lisa Farbstein. No charges have been filed in the crash, and the identity of the driver has not yet been released. Mahnke, who is the communications director for Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), is reported to be in stable condition currently at George Washington University Hospital. An MPD investigation into the collision is ongoing.

D.C. Police still do not know the identity of the woman who struck by a Metrobus at the corner of Connecticut and Florida Avenues this morning. WTOP has reported that the woman was a jogger who was wearing earbuds at the time she was hit, which would help explain why she was not carrying any identification. The woman, who is currently listed as a Jane Doe, is in critical condition at George Washington University Hospital. She is described as a white female, with brown hair, approximately 25 years of age, and 5'5" inches tall. She was wearing a white T-shirt, faded gray jogging shorts with white trim, white sneakers and white ankle socks. Anyone with information on the identity of this woman is asked to call D.C. police at (202) 727-9099.

A pedestrian was struck by a Metrobus just after 8:30 a.m. this morning at Connecticut and Florida Avenues, according to D.C. police. D.C. Fire/EMS spokesperson Pete Piringer confirmed that the victim was transported to the hospital, but the extent of the person's injuries, who passersby say was female, are unknown at this time. The MPD's major crash unit is currently is on the scene investigating. We'll update when we have more information.

WMATA offers this update on the fate of three Metrobus drivers who have been under investigation recently. Two bus operators have been fired this week, according to Metro. The first is the driver who was arrested and charged with kidnapping after refusing to let a passenger off the bus during a verbal dispute. The second fired driver had been driving with a suspended license, which Metro only discovered after the operator got into an accident with another vehicle on July 30. And finally, the bus driver photographed by a passenger while talking on her cell phone, made public by the local blog Unsuck DC Metro, will in fact keep her job, after an investigation determined she had used her personal cell phone to report a mechanical problem with her bus. "The internal Metro investigation revealed that the bus was stopped and secured when the operator communicated with Central Control and she did not operate the bus while on the phone. She has been re-instructed regarding operating procedures and returned to service." Metro General Manager John Catoe originally said that the driver would likely be fired.

It's been a little disconcerting to ride my usual Metrobus routes for the last few weeks. I'm always happy to see my friend and fellow DCist editor Martin Austermuhle, but having his steely eyes staring down at me non-stop has been somewhat startling on occasion. "Oh hey, Mart-- oh god, it's that friggin' poster again!" Maybe you're having the same problem. The Reliable Source picked up a little item about Martin's participation in DC Vote's latest ad campaign today, so I was reminded to mention it.

An estimated 20 District bus shelters were vandalized overnight, according the District Department of Transportation. An investigation is still ongoing and DDOT does not yet have a full report on the exact number of bus shelters involved or the extent of the damage.

WMATA's NextBus tool has been officially back up and running for just a little over a month now, and last week the developers at NextBus launched their own iPhone application (now $2.99 from the iTunes store). For iPhone users, the application is well worth the purchase price, thanks to enhanced GPS and mapping features.

Credit goes to the increasingly excellent local blog Unsuck DC Metro for the news that a Metrobus operator will soon be fired for talking on a cell phone while driving a bus.

Check out this paragraph buried at the bottom of a press release from WMATA today about how the transit agency is conducting a comprehensive review of its disciplinary procedures for employees.

In the most recent incident, a Metrobus operator refused to allow a customer to exit the bus after a verbal dispute. He was arrested by Metro Transit Police on Saturday, July 25, and charged with kidnapping. The bus operator is on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of an investigation. Metro officials will determine an appropriate level of discipline once the investigation is complete.

One day into to the official relaunch of WMATA's Next Bus service, and we've heard a lot positive feedback from bus riders about the usefulness of the system. But some problems with the real-time Metrobus arrival tool are already apparent.

Metro is relaunching Next Bus on Wednesday, July 1. The service originally debuted about two years ago, but WMATA wasn't happy with its accuracy, which it said was only about 80 percent, so they shut down the pilot program in October 2007. After spending almost two years making upgrades, Next Bus is back, and we want to hear from bus riders as they try out the improved real-time Metrobus locating system.

Two suburban Metrobus lines will begin charging express fares this Sunday, June 28. In Montgomery County, the J7/J9 I-270 Express line will see the fare increase, while in Prince George’s County, the W19 Indian Head Express line will also be affected. Starting June 28, the two express lines will cost $3 with a SmarTrip card or $3.10 with cash. In other Metro money news, WMATA is expected, at long last, to pass its $2.14 billion budget on Thursday.

WMATA has posted the holiday transit schedules for D.C.'s transit system, along with the nearby suburban systems. Note that on Monday, Memorial Day, Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess will all operate on a Sunday schedule, with the Metrorail system open from 7 a.m. to midnight. Parking at all Metro-operated lots will also be free on Monday. Check the full schedule for more details.

The Examiner ran an interesting piece this morning on the results of a 2007 survey that suggests that Metrorail riders in the D.C. metro area are wealthy (they have a whopping median income of $102,110) and college educated (80 percent!), while Metrobus riders are less well off: their median income is $69,620, and 59 percent have a college degree. First things first: the most obvious point to be made here is that even Metrobus riders in the D.C. area appear to be very, very well off according to this survey. I mean crap, I realize that figure isn't an average income, but I now feel like one of the poorest people on the bus.

Metro's board today caved to mounting pressure to avoid massive Metrobus service cuts and voted to make only $2.5 million worth of cuts instead of $13.6 million, reports Lena Sun in the Post. In order to make up for a predicted budget shortfall, the board voted 5-1 to dip into the agency's so-called rainy day fund, which currently holds $13.3 million.

This weekend sure is a busy one. What with the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade is on Saturday morning, the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run and 5K Run-Walk on Sunday morning, plus Wizards, DC United and Nationals games all happening on Saturday night, off-peak hours this weekend on Metro are likely to resemble rush hour. In order to keep up, Metro has no weekend track work scheduled, and they've instituted a number of service changes.

Less than one full day after yesterday afternoon's Metrobus/MARC train collision in Riverdale Park, another Metrobus came close to meeting the same fate today with a CSX train.

WMATA this week announced a long list of Metrobus route service changes that will go into effect starting Sunday, March 29. Among the highlights: the N22 Navy Yard Shuttle Line and the 98 Adams Morgan-U Street Link will be discontinued to make way for new Circulator routes (starting dates for those lines still have yet to be officially announced); the S9 16th Street Express Line will begin operating during peak weekday hours (on Monday); the 53, 70, 71, 90, 92, 93, and 96 bus routes will be modified to start or end at a different stop; and the L2, the 79 Georgia Avenue Metro Extra Line, and S1 lines will see increased frequency during the morning rush. Consult Metro's full list of bus route and schedule changes to see if your route is affected.

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WMATA announced this morning that the new S9 Metrobus route, offering express bus service along 16th Street, will launch on Monday, March 30. A ribbon cutting ceremony has also been scheduled for 10 a.m. that morning, at the stop at 16th Street and Columbia Rd. NW. The S9 route will be serviced by blue and silver hybrid-electric buses, which will be branded separately with “express” labels to differentiate them from the S1, S2 and S4 routes.

The Suntrust National Marathon is tomorrow, Saturday March 21, and much of the city will be affected by mass road closures and detours.

Metro put out a formal statement today on a move that was expected in the wake of two recent incidents involving Metrobus drivers, namely the police-involved fatal shooting of Jelani Slay, and the assault of a police officer dressed as McGruff the Crime Dog: the agency is moving forward with plans to review its hiring practices. “We’ve created a special team to implement more stringent selection criteria for applicants and job retention standards, particularly for bus operator applicants given recent high-profile events involving two bus operators,” General Manager John Catoe said. Given what the agency is reacting to, expect to see tougher rules about applicants with criminal histories come out of this review process. Metro says the review team is expected to implement changes as early as May.