Westboro residents: Express bus speed on Transitway long been a concern
Posted Jan 12, 2019 04:24:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
As police continue to investigate a fatal bus crash at Westboro Station, residents in the surrounding neighbourhoods are voicing concerns over the speed at which express buses tear down the Transitway on a regular basis.
Brian McGregor showed up near the scene of the crash Saturday morning with coffee and donuts in hand for emergency responders who had been logging long hours in frigid temperatures.
He takes the bus from Westboro Station regularly.
“Those express buses, and that was an express bus [which crashed Friday], bomb through this station when they're not making a stop there,” said McGregor. “It's scary to see how fast they go and obviously it doesn't take much [for an accident to happen]. There's not a lot of space down there and things can happen quickly.”
Ken Mellon showed up at the scene of the crash just after it had happened and was shocked to see so much activity at a typically quiet transit station.
“I do know that the express buses, the connection buses, the 200-series, they come zipping through there pretty quick.”
Liam Jarvis was visiting his dad, who lives in Westboro, and said he is often riding the OC Transpo double-decker buses.
“They go pretty fast down that narrow stretch from Tunney's Pasture all the way to Dominion,” he added.
McGregor said the speed of those buses on the Transitway has always concerned him.
“Even just from the practical standpoint of trying to stay upright on the bus, when there are elderly people or less mobile people trying to stand up and the buses are just bombing down the Transitway, it's hard to stay upright,” McGregor added.
He believes part of the problem could be that OC Transpo drivers have too tight of schedules to have to adhere to, and that's what causes them to attempt to make up time on the Transitway.
McGregor said he doesn't ride double-decker buses often, but following Friday's collision he might have second thoughts on where he sits the next time he does get on one.
“I might not go on the top, and if I did, maybe go to the back of [the bus].”
