Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Portland area's transportation agency is hoping to improve training and internal communications, as part of a new safety effort presented to TriMet board members Wednesday morning.

TriMet asked for an outside safety review following a fatal bus accident in April. The review came up with 15 recommendations ranging from training protocols to the purchasing of new buses.

General manager, Neil McFarlane, says the consultants' most troubling finding had to do with the way drivers are notified when rules are changed.

Neil McFarlane: "What they deemed is that our distribution of standard operating procedures, or SOPs, for short – to our bus operators is haphazard. And that there was no secured way of knowing that the operator had received and understood the content." 

McFarlane says in the future, bus drivers will have to sign to show they've received rule changes. He's also planning to test drivers on changes,  through a newly required annual re-certification process.

The review found some strong TriMet safety procedures – especially for light rail. 

Board members supported implementing the recommendations.

On the Web:

http://www.trimet.org/