How safe are Metrobuses?

Agency Injuries Reported in 2011 Miles Traveled
WMATA 354 Over 37 million
L.A. 327 Over 80 million
FFX Connector 123 Over 7 million
Ride on Moco 27 Over 12 million
MTA (Baltimore) 370 Over 20 million
Denver 44 Over 20 million
Houston 159 Over 32 million
Detroit 203 Over 13 million
Chicago 744 Over 56 million
Cleveland 188 Over 13 million
Miami 151 Over 29 million
Atlanta 238 Over 27 million
SEPTA (Philadelphia) 862 Over 40 million
MTA (New York City) 664 Over 97 million

Adam Tuss, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Metro’s superintendent of bus transportation is defending his drivers after a disturbing investigation, first reported by WTOP, showed hundreds of Metro collisions and close calls.

“I’ve worked in Toronto, Los Angeles and Washington. I think our Metrobus operators are the best I’ve ever worked with,” Ted Harris said.

WTOP did a side-by-side comparison of public transportation in major cities throughout the country with federal statistics reported to the National Transit Database.

When comparing the L.A. bus system with the Metrobus system, WTOP found that even though the California buses covered more than twice the amount of revenue miles as Metro did in 2011, L.A. reported about 30 fewer injuries compared to Metro.

“When you’ve seen one transit system, you’ve seen one transit system. They are all different for different reasons,” said one transportation official who asked to remain anonymous.

Check out a breakdown of the Metrobus injury rate as compared to other city bus systems around the country. Follow Adam Tuss and WTOP on Twitter. (Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

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