CapMetro provides bus accident rates

Dottie Watkins, Capital Metro vice president of bus and paratransit services, updated board members on seven months of bus operations data Monday. At CapMetro’s Operation, Planning and Safety Committee meeting, Watkins said several of CapMetro’s contractors had struggled with maintaining low vehicle accident rates lately, and the transportation authority is reviewing data to see if CapMetro has created more hazardous routes or if the problems lie with the contractors. McDonald Transit, one of CapMetro’s main bus service contractors, had a 4.48 percent high on its vehicle accident rate in March and a low in February of 2.79 percent, according to board documents. The contractor missed CapMetro’s stated goal of an 2.4 percent vehicle accident rate per month for all seven months. The accident rate on CapMetro’s MetroRapid routes, which is run by First Transit, also varied greatly, from a 1.65 to 5.04 percent vehicle accident rate in the past seven months. First Transit met CapMetro’s goal twice, however, which was a 2.45 percent vehicle accident rate per month.