After 2 major crashes with MCTS buses, officials urge drivers to be more cautious

In less than 48 hours last week, two crashes with county buses resulted in two deaths and more than a dozen hospitalizations — and Milwaukee County Transit System officials are urging drivers to be more cautious.

Denise Wandke, MCTS president and managing director, said Wednesday that crashes involving county buses are up “over 40% just this quarter in comparison to last quarter.”

“We’re seeing more and more buses towed in, more and more buses that are in the shop that need major repairs,” Wandke said. “We’re not just replacing mirrors anymore. It’s terrible.”

Last Thursday, just before midnight, a driver died after running through a red light and hitting a bus near North 35th Street and West Capitol Drive, sending five people to the hospital.

Then on Saturday, just after 9:30 p.m. at North 35th Street and West Wisconsin Avenue, another crash resulted from a driver running a red light and hitting a bus. The automobile driver died, and nine others went to the hospital.

While not every crash involves a death, there are major costs to the county for each incident.

A battery electric bus costs about $1.6 million to replace and a typical diesel gas truck costs about $650,000 to replace. MCTS does have other buses to replace damaged vehicles but the county is already dipping into its reserves.

“We only have so many buses,” Wandke said. “We’re already running into our spare ratio just trying to keep the fleet going. So this was a hard hit on us.”

And then there’s the trauma inflicted on the bus drivers.

“The things that they see, and they encounter daily ... we’re all trying to process what’s actually happening,” Wandke said. “This is a very rewarding job for a lot of them. We are servicing the community. They take a lot of pride in what they do. But I really want people to start respecting the positions that these operators have. It’s a very challenging thing to drive a 40-ton bus, plus look out for all of this craziness that’s happening, and some of the mental health issues that we encounter as well.”

The crash Saturday involved a battery electric bus and could have been deadlier but the design of the bus helped save passengers.

“The steel frame of the bus saved passengers' lives,” said Dwayne Reese, MCTS director of maintenance. “Looking at the video, the car made contact with the bus and bounced off of the bus. The car did not go through the bus, thank God. So the steel frame was a major factor in preventing death.”

If it was a car, instead of a bus, more people could have died.

“If they would have been in an automobile, they would not have survived,” Wandke said. “What’s happening to our buses and what’s happening to our community, and to our bus operators, is just not acceptable anymore.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: After 2 major crashes with buses, Milwaukee officials urge caution