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After an accident last month in which a Trimet bus struck five pedestrians, killing two of them, when the driver took an illegal left turn, the bureau hired a Florida consulting service to review its safety procedures.

The 26-page report includes some sucking up ("It is our belief that TriMet embraces the goal of attaining the highest level of safety achievable for its organization and will continue to improve its programs with this goal in mind"), and some nitpicky semantic suggestions ("It would be very helpful if a numbering system were used to reference the various sections instead of bullets"), but also some interesting research.

Things other cities have done about left turns:

[Cleveland:] GCRTA installed warning devices with audible beeping for left and right turns. Buses were retrofitted with the external beeping sound activated with the turn signal to alert pedestrians that a bus is turning. Strobe lights are also being installed above the left and right turn signals.
[Des Moines:] DART experienced seven bus-pedestrian collisions in Des Moines between 2007 and 2009; in each, the bus was turning left. As a result, DART has instituted a policy of blowing the horn in turns.

Suggestions:
- Buses carrying passengers should not make right or left turns on red, even if it is legal for motor vehicles at that intersection.
- Buses should only make "restrictive" left turns, that is, when there is a green left turn arrow or no oncoming traffic with the right-of-way. "Permissive" left turns should be eliminated for Trimet routes.
- The city should consider operating particular intersections with lots of pedestrian traffic with a "pedestrian-only" cycle at peak pedestrian times. This has been implemented famously in Tokyo and in NYC at Union Square.

More than you could ever want to know about bus safety after the jump.

Bus Operator Training:

Of concern is the fact that, while rail operators receive annual recertification, bus operators do not. Industry best practices dictate that bus operators be recertified in rules & procedures and emergency operations, if not annually, then at least biennially.

On [never] Driving When It's Wet Out:

It is recommended that operators never operate through standing water covering the roadway.

Committees on the elimination of committees:

Overall, the number and type of committees at TriMet could be improved. There are a fairly large number of committees, and many of them perform similar functions in different areas. [...] It is recommended that TriMet undertake a review of its committees and make recommendations for streamlining committees and developing membership standards.