Environmental Services
News
Saturday, September 5, 2009
County Investigates Arlington Transit (ART) Incident at Washington Blvd. & Glebe Rd.
Officials express concern over accident and take action to review the ART contractor’s driver safety training
An ART bus was involved in an incident yesterday evening at approximately 6:30 p.m. near the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Glebe Road in which the vehicle hit a brick retaining wall. Passengers were checked by emergency responders on the scene and released. As a precaution, two individuals were transported to a local hospital for minor injuries.
Arlington County regrets this incident and takes our commitment to provide the community with safe and accessible public transit seriously. County officials are investigating the matter and at this time it has been determined that the driver of the ART bus is at fault for the incident.
The incident on Friday evening is unacceptable and officials have initiated discussions with the contractor for the ART service, Forsythe Transportation, to revaluate safety and defensive driving training for all bus operators. In coordination with Forsythe Transportation, County officials are taking the following actions:
- Continuing to conduct a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding the crash.
- Placing the bus operator on administrative leave pending the final outcome of the investigation.
- Testing the bus operator to determine if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of incident.
- Using Real-Time software to review the operation of the bus prior to the incident, including the speed of the vehicle.
- Reinforcing periodic monitoring of all bus drivers for safe driving techniques.
- Reviewing the overall safety and training program, which includes periodic refresher training of all bus operators and courses in defensive driving.
- Working to schedule refresher safety training for drivers and closely monitor performance of drivers awaiting the retraining classes
Arlington County media contact: Diana Sun, pager: 703-335-3017
Arlington, Va., is a world-class residential, business and tourist location that was originally part of the "10 miles square" parcel of land surveyed in 1791 to be the Nation's Capital. It is the geographically smallest self-governing county in the United States, occupying slightly less than 26 square miles. Arlington maintains a rich variety of stable neighborhoods, quality schools and enlightened land use, and received the Environmental Protection Agency's highest award for "Smart Growth" in 2002. Home to some of the most influential organizations in the world - including the Pentagon - Arlington stands out as one of America's preeminent places to live, visit and do business.
Arlington Transit (ART) operates within Arlington County, Virginia, supplementing Metrobus with smaller, neighborhood-friendly vehicles and providing access to Metrorail and Virginia Railway Express (VRE). Most of ART's state-of-the ART buses operate on clean-burning natural gas. The Arlington County Department of Environmental Services' Transit Program provides public transportation services, including ART, to accommodate the needs of Arlington residents, commuters and visitors. The ART bus service is operated through a contract with Forsythe, a private sector company).
