Long Beach Transit Safety Program Takes U-Turn

LONG BEACH —  Almost a year after winning a national award for performance, Long Beach Transit appears to have made a U-turn: Accidents are up and lawsuits are increasing. So, the bus company has overhauled its safety program.

The city bus agency’s figures show the number of accidents jumped to 679 for the year ending in June; they were 577 the same period a year earlier. Moreover, the cost of settling lawsuits has more than doubled, to $875,000.

Officials also note an increase in the number of lawsuits, but no figures were available.

Transit officials say riding one of the city’s 175 buses is still safer than driving a car. But the 12.8% increase in accidents has led officials to overhaul the agency’s safety program and add two full-time monitors to oversee safety issues. This follows the formation of an accident reduction unit a year ago, when the agency was cited by the American Public Transit Assn. for outstanding efficiency and achievements.

“Obviously, we’re concerned about safety,” said Pam Barr, the agency’s risk manager. “We’re taking a hard look at the problem.”

Transit officials tie the increase in accidents and lawsuits to varied factors, including more traffic and construction in downtown Long Beach, a litigation-hungry public and an 8% jump in overall ridership in the last year.

“No matter how safe a business you have, the odds of having an accident are going to increase the more people you have,” said Guy Heston, an assistant manager for the agency.

Some bus drivers and transit company officials also complain of an increase in the number of drivers unfamiliar with English and a shrinking pool of qualified people for driving jobs, which pay $9.28 to $14.71 an hour.

“People don’t line up in the streets (for transit company jobs) the way they used to,” Barr said.

Heston said the 679 accidents include not only collisions but incidents ranging from a mirror falling off the side of a bus to a “a little old lady” falling inside a bus.

Most accidents are minor, he said, with no fatalities in the last few years.

But officials said they have stepped up reporting of even minor incidents to protect themselves against an explosion of lawsuits plaguing municipal agencies across the country. Last year, the agency doubled the amount of money it sets aside in a reserve fund to settle lawsuits to $2.2 million.

“We’re part of a trend across the country,” district General Manager Laurence Jackson said. “People sue because they think public agencies have deep pockets.”

He said the agency recently had to settle an accident in which the driver of a car ran into a person sitting on a bus bench.

“It’s become ridiculous,” he said.

In addition to a major expansion of its safety program--including changes in the training of drivers and creation of a safety officer slot--the department recently installed a computer system to track accidents.

Tacked to the walls of the room where drivers gather every morning is a poster listing accidents to date and target reduction goals. Recent copies of a biweekly newsletter for employees called Transit Times offer safety tips, ranging from warnings to look out for children to advice to slow down at curves.

Drivers complain that they are becoming easy scapegoats in an era of lawsuits and that they work under enormous and often unreasonable pressure to avoid accidents. After even four minor incidents, a driver can be fired, according to current regulations.

“The rules are too strict,” said Julius Martin, president of business Local 1589 of Amalgamated Transit, the union that represents Long Beach’s 435 city bus operators.

“Anything you do is classified as an accident,” he said, “even a broken mirror.”