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Bus! Stop!
A boy who has just missed his bus waits for the next one, but the vehicles that arrive at his stop do not look at all like the one he missed, and the riders who get on them are not quite what he expects either.
Book
A Systematic Review of Wheelchair and Mobility Scooter Containment Systems Used Internationally on Public Transit Buses
Despite the daily need for people to travel on public transit buses using their wheeled mobility devices, relatively little information is available regarding the most efficacious, affordable, and independent approaches to assist passengers with keeping their mobility devices in the designated wheelchair access space. A systematic review was undertaken to summarize this literature, place it within a geographical and temporal context, appraise its quality, and establish common themes. Key academic and grey literature transportation databases and government websites searched from 1990 to May 2022 identified 33 documents, which were appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) or the Authority, Accuracy, Coverage, Objectivity, Date, Significance (AACODS) tool. Overall, the documents included were of good quality. The literature retrieved focused on the development and testing of the active containment systems favored for use in North America with a contrastingly small examination of the effectiveness of passive or semi-passive containment systems. Almost no literature was retrieved in English from European researchers documenting the use or effectiveness of rearward-facing passive systems. While tip or slide events are relatively rare among mobility device users, the effective use of containment systems is vital to minimize these. Further research is required to support transport policy makers, operators, and bus drivers to identify and correctly implement optimal containment systems to promote safety for all passengers on public buses.
Journal Article
Bus accident severity and passenger injury: evidence from Denmark
Purpose
Bus safety is a concern not only in developing countries, but also in the U.S. and Europe. In Denmark, disentangling risk factors that are positively or negatively related to bus accident severity and injury occurrence to bus passengers can contribute to promote safety as an essential principle of sustainable transit and advance the vision “every accident is one too many”.
Methods
Bus accident data were retrieved from the national accident database for the period 2002–2011. A generalized ordered logit model allows analyzing bus accident severity and a logistic regression enables examining occurrence of injury to bus passengers.
Results
Bus accident severity is positively related to (i) the involvement of vulnerable road users, (ii) high speed limits, (iii) night hours, (iv) elderly drivers of the third party involved, and (v) bus drivers and other drivers crossing in yellow or red light. Occurrence of injury to bus passengers is positively related to (i) the involvement of heavy vehicles, (ii) crossing intersections in yellow or red light, (iii) open areas, (iv) high speed limits, and (v) slippery road surface.
Conclusions
The findings of the current study provide a comprehensive picture of the bus safety situation in Denmark and suggest the necessity of further research into bus drivers’ attitudes and perceptions of risks and road users’ perceptions of bus operations. Moreover, these findings suggest the need for further training into bus drivers’ hazard recognition skills and infrastructural solutions to forgive possible driving errors.
Journal Article
Optimisation of Bus Superstructure for Rollover Safety According to ECE-R66
A bus rollover is one of the most severe accidents that usually causes a large number of fatalities and injured occupants. This paper aims to investigate the key parameters affecting the damage and deformation behaviours of bus superstructure under rollover test according to Economic Commission for Europe Regulation 66 (ECE R66) as well as to design an economical lightweight bus structure by using response surface optimisation technique. The rollover simulations are performed by means of explicit dynamic analysis via Radioss finite element programme and validated by experimental data. Factorial design is implemented to pinpoint significance of each structural component based on its energy absorption under rollover condition. The significant parameters for rollover safety are found to be the stiffness of roof, pillar, and floor structures, respectively. Crashworthiness Index (CI) is proposed as an evaluation factor of overall rollover strength of bus structure. A ratio of CI to mass is proposed as an improvement criterion to supervise the progressive path of steepest descent and used to control the degree of improvement. Successive response surface optimisation via central composite design and composite desirability are employed to resolve the optimum lightweight bus structure passing ECE R66 requirements.
Journal Article
Common Mental Disorders in Public Transportation Drivers in Lima, Peru
Traffic related injuries are leading contributors to burden of disease worldwide. In developing countries a high proportion of them can be attributed to public transportation vehicles. Several mental disorders including alcohol and drug abuse, psychotic disorders, mental stress, productivity pressure, and low monetary income were found predictors of high rates of traffic related injuries in public transportation drivers. The goal of this study was to estimate the prevalence of common mental disorders in the population of public transportation drivers of buses and rickshaws in Lima, Peru.
Cross sectional study. A sample of bus and rickshaw drivers was systematically selected from formal public transportation companies using a snowball approach. Participants completed self-administered questionnaires for assessing major depressive episode, anxiety symptoms, alcohol abuse, and burnout syndrome. Socio demographic information was also collected. The analyses consisted of descriptive measurement of outcomes taking into account both between and within cluster standard deviation (BCSD and WCSD). A total of 278 bus and 227 rickshaw drivers out of 25 companies agreed to participate in the study. BCSD for major depressive episode, anxiety symptoms and burnout syndrome was not found significant (p>0.05). The estimated prevalence of each variable was 13.7% (IC95%: 10.7-16.6%), 24.1% (IC95%: 19.4-28.8%) and 14.1% (IC95%: 10.8-17.4%) respectively. The estimated prevalence of alcohol abuse was 75.4% (IC95%: 69-81.7%, BCSD = 12.2%, WCSD = 41.9%, intra class correlation (ICC): 7.8%).
Common mental disorders such as alcohol abuse, major depressive episode, anxiety symptoms and burnout syndrome presented higher rates in public transportation drivers than general population.
Journal Article
Hewing Out Evacuation Routes for Burning Buses by Linear-Shaped Charge Jet
In recent years, several buses have ignited in some cities in China, causing numerous deaths and significant property damage. However, few research studies have been conducted to deal with such accidents. Therefore, in this work, a linear-shaped charge jet with rectangular cross sections was used to hew out evacuation routes for burning buses, and the parameter design for the shaped charge jet was improved according to asymmetry limitations and human tolerance. A numerical finite element simulation model of the behavior of a jet penetrating the jambs was established using ANSYS/LS-DYNA software. The asymmetrical characteristics of an arc segment in the structure of a rectangular-shaped charge were analyzed, in addition to the influence on the deviations of the jet penetration capacity and blast injuries to occupants caused by the side effects of detonation. Furthermore, overlooking the risks posed to bystanders by the process of hewing out evacuation routes, the calculation results revealed that the improved scheme could effectively ensure the security of the near-field occupants. Barrier-free evacuation routes could be utilized within microseconds.
Journal Article
Occupant Kinematic Study in Safe Bus Superstructure
The risk of injuries and fatalities is severe when bus superstructure fails during rollover accidents. This study deals with two stages of analyses which are superstructure strength having rollover analysis and occupants kinematic analysis. The validation process by correlating the strain results obtained from simple box rollover and simulation process done. The inputs from validation process had been used for full-scale bus superstructure rollover. A complete bus structure was developed and simulation was done according to the United Nation Economic Commission of Europe (UNECE) regulation 66 by utilizing finite element analysis software. Injury to occupant at various locations was studied as well as comparison study between belt occupant and unbelted occupants by using the Mathematical Dynamic Model (MADYMO) software. Analysis suggested that superstructure strength and occupant kinematics consideration can reduce fatality and serious injury in bus rollover accident.
Journal Article
A methodological approach for studying public bus transit driver distraction
The increase in bus transit ridership along with the proliferation of personal electronic control and communication gadgets is causing more distractions for the drivers. For transit vehicles, some distractions are caused by factors beyond the driver’s control such as operating additional equipment, attending to passengers, and communicating with the operations center. Several driver distraction studies have been conducted for personal vehicles and commercial vehicles. But bus transit driver distraction has received limited attention in the literature even though bus transit accidents may cause more injuries due to larger number of passengers. Hence, their distraction is not clearly understood; furthermore, no established methodology is available to conduct a detailed study at a transit agency because of inadequate research in the field. The objective of this paper is to present a detailed modular research framework for studying bus transit driver distractions. The framework provides a transit agency with a set of standardized methodologies for studying distraction over a wide range of cost and time intervals. An agency may choose one or more modules to suit their study requirements. The modules for data collection, analysis, validation, and interpretation and usage of results are designed on the basis of in-depth studies and tests at transit agencies in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The paper provides a detailed process and a set of guidelines to study bus transit driver distraction which will make it easier for any transit agency to conduct such a study. The results of the bus transit driver distraction studies could be used for training bus drivers to mitigate distraction and assist state and city governments to formulate effective regulations to control distracted driving.
Journal Article
Investigation of wheelchair instability during transport in large accessible transit vehicles
Large accessible transit vehicles (LATVs, fixed-route intracity buses), generally considered safe, may not be as safe for wheelchair-seated passengers. Transit provider practices vary regarding use of wheelchair tiedown and occupant restraint systems (WTORSs), while recent research suggests high levels of WTORS disuse and misuse. We sought to better understand wheelchair and wheelchair passenger instabilities related to WTORS disuse and misuse on LATVs. This article presents a retrospective review of 295 video surveillance records of wheelchair passenger trips on LATVs. Wheelchair trips involving disuse and misuse of WTORS were quantified and categorized based on WTORS configurations. Cases of wheelchair and wheelchair passenger instability were categorized based on severity, type, and direction. Three adverse events involving severe wheelchair and/or passenger instability were examined in greater detail. Results showed 20.3% of records involved wheelchair-related adverse events (95% minor instabilities, 5% severe instabilities). Scooters were most likely to be unstable, followed by manual and power wheelchairs. In most instability cases, no tiedowns were used to secure the wheelchair and no lap belt was used to restrain the wheelchair passenger properly. In many instances, the lap belt was misused in an attempt to secure the wheelchair, whereas the shoulder belt was never used.
Journal Article
Research Framework For Studying Public Transit Bus Driver Distraction
Over 3,000 people are killed and 400,000 injured annually in the US due to motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver. In the case of passenger vehicles, most of the distraction is within the control of the driver. However, for public transit vehicles, some distractions are caused by factors beyond the driver's control such as operating the fare box or attending to passengers. Research on the distraction of transit bus drivers is very limited, although injuries from transit vehicle accidents are generally higher because buses usually carry many passengers. This paper proposes a modular research framework for conducting a driver distraction study for transit buses. The research framework provides standardized methodologies structured into four modules - Data Collection, Analysis, Validation and Result Interpretation. The Data Collection module consists of approaches for collecting data from accident databases, surveys, and route observation. The Analysis module provide methods for classification of distracting activities, and development of statistical models that construct relationships between high risk distracting activities and driver attributes and external factors. The Validation module presents simple observation and discussion methods to sophisticated simulation techniques to check the model results. The final module contains guidelines for Results Interpretation and Usage. The framework's standardized techniques are expected to reduce the overall time and cost of conducting a transit bus driver distraction study.
Journal Article