|
Comment on this article |
View comments |
Email this Article
|
|
News :: Miscellaneous |
|
MTD and Pedestrians |
Current rating: 0 |
by another voter
(No verified email address) |
01 Mar 2005
|
I resubmitted this to get into the local interest section.
The following is from the Daily Illini. As the article notes, this is the second time in the past few months that an MTD bus has struck a pedestrian. In the first instance, the student who was hit died from her injuries.
I support public transportation and respect the MTD, but over the years I have sensed an increasingly aggressive approach on the part of some drivers. I have noticed this as a driver in my car, and particular on those occasions when I walk on campus during a busy time of the day. I would be interested in hearing if others have had similar perceptions.
---------------------------------------------------------- |
A University student was hit by an MTD bus Monday afternoon on Wright Street, just north of the Chalmers Street crosswalk by Lincoln Hall, said Champaign police officer Jim Bednarz.
Benjamin Robin, junior in communications, was identified as the person hit by the bus. He was in fair condition at Carle Foundation Hospital, said Allison McLaughlin, public relations assistant for Carle.
After conducting interviews at the scene of the accident, Bednarz said Robin apparently had stepped in front of the bus without looking. It appeared that he was not in the crosswalk when the bus struck him, Bednarz said. Robin seemed all right before being taken to the hospital, he said.
Tom Costello, assistant director for Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District, said the MTD currently was conducting an internal investigation and a decision about whether or not to penalize the driver would be made after the investigation. MTD declined to release the driver's name due to the pending investigation.
Robin is the second University student to be hit by an MTD bus on campus this school year. Graduate student Carolyn Jeffers died soon after being hit by an MTD bus on the corner of Gregory Drive and Goodwin Avenue on Oct. 27, 2004.
Costello said accidents involving the MTD were uncommon and this year is uncharacteristic of the company's history. He urged people to remember that pedestrians, bicycles, cars and buses shared the same space and to be careful in the campus area. |
This work is in the public domain |
Comments
|
Re: MTD and Pedestrians |
by IMC Cheerleader
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
01 Mar 2005
|
This is sad news. I remember coming close to being hit several times. Some of the crossings (without a clear cross-walk) are dangerous. Have you crossed the Uni. High on Springfield? No one stops. What the campus needs is a thorough examination of road safety for students. A few years ago, one could not cross Springfield from DCL to Grainger without fear. Now they have a crosswalk. Something like these should be everywhere. Ever cross Lincoln from one side to another? There are stop signs or cross walks?
Road safety for pedestrians is, most sadly, non-existent on this campus. |
|
Re: MTD and Pedestrians |
by city driver
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
01 Mar 2005
|
|
Although I am very saddened by this tragic accident, I must also add that students "dare" drivers to hit them as they dash into the streets and fail to cross at intersections. It seems as though everyone should be concerned with pedestrian safety--- including the pedestrians. |
|
Re: MTD and Pedestrians |
by Maughta
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
01 Mar 2005
|
|
I have to agree with city driver. As the article above states, the pedestrian stepped in front of the bus without looking. Yay for pedestrian right of way, but *sheesh*, have a little common sense. We all know buses can't stop on a dime. |
|
Re: MTD and Pedestrians |
by girlstar
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
01 Mar 2005
|
Living here has definitely made me a lot more conscientious about pedestrians and cyclists, especially when I'm driving on campus. I grew up (and learned to drive) in the Chicago 'burbs, where nobody bikes or walks *anywhere*. Unfortunately, people who don't live here or who are new to the area aren't as ped-conscious as people who have been here for a while.
The problem with the new crosswalks (like the one by Grainger) is that people don't look when they're crossing the street. Just because motorists are *supposed* to yield to pedestrians doesn't mean that they do--pedestrians need to be cautious, just as motorists do. It seems like some of the people on campus forgot that their parents taught them to look both ways before crossing the street. |
|
Re: MTD and Pedestrians |
by Walker
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
01 Mar 2005
|
|
I remember when students rode bikes or walked from their dorms to class. MTD buses brought people to and and from campus but they did not operate as a shuttle system around campus except for the handicapped. There are too many huge buses on campus streets; on Wright St., it's close to one bus a minute, all through the day. I'm not advocating for a tram or any kind of fixed guideway system; instead, I think people should walk and ride bikes. They will be healthier, the campus will be quieter and safer. The growth of the MTD on campus has not resulted in fewer cars on campus nor has it discouraged students from bringing cars to campus. It just discourages students from walking. It makes me sad to think that students today have no idea how much the presence of those gigantic, noisy, smelly buses has degraded the campus experience compared to a couple of decades ago. |
|
Use It, But What If You Lose It? |
by Dose of Reality
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
02 Mar 2005
|
Let me start by saying that any charge that MTD drivers are "increasingly aggressive" is just BS. The buses now have cameras that record what happens. This is a serious disincentive to "aggressive" driving of any kind.
As for "Walker" well, enjoy it while you can. I rode the bus this morning with some poor dude that just had both his feet operated on. He was still trying to figure out how to use his electric wheelchair on the bus. He told the driver that he was supposed to be on crutches in a week, but that he would pretty much be off his feet for three months. I can't say for sure, but it wouldn't surprise me if a couple of months ago this guy was sitting on a bar telling his buddies about how he thought his tax money was being wasted by the MTD...Guess what? Now he's finding out just how useful the buses are.
Not everyone can walk and many, many who can't sure can't afford their own van. This doesn't even include those who have vision problems or epilepsy or any of a number of other conditions, like poverty, which keeps them on the bus. Many people who ride the bus to get on campus are not even students -- they're workers going to their jobs on or near campus.
The statement that "The growth of the MTD on campus has not resulted in fewer cars on campus..." is just BS. The clearest example is the fact that employees and others use the ride and park option. It's a long walk from the Assembly Hall parking to most any place on campus that people work or study. I would be the first to speak of the practicle benefits of walking, but get real.
As for the fact that you are "not advocating for a tram or any kind of fixed guideway system" simply shows your Pollyanna nature or perhaps just your deep antipathy to the value of great public utilities like MTD. People use those buses heavily -- good old consumer-demand driven market forces -- which is why there are so many buses on the streets. The only alternative? Trams or some kind of fixed guideway system. |
|
Re: MTD and Pedestrians |
by another voter
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
02 Mar 2005
|
Okay, so people can take the conversation any which way they choose. I want to be clear that I do support the MTD for all the reasons stated by dose. Public transportation is a vital public good.
The issue of aggressiveness, however, is not mutually exclusive. First, the presence of camera demonstrates some awareness on the part of the MTD management that there is at least a potential problem. But the mere presence of the cameras no more ensures good driving than the presence of cameras in convenience stores ensures there will be no robberies. So let's not suggest that this proves anything.
By aggressivee driving, I am talking about situations where, for example, a bus is halted at a stop on West Springfield in Champaign. There are two lanes and one center-turn lane. A car behind the bus begins to go around, using the center lane. As the car comes up even with the bus, the bus takes off. That's aggressive on the part of both drivers, but I suggest there is a distinction between the autonomous action of an individual driver and that of an employee of a public utility.
As for pedestrians, I don't care if students are taking bets on the outcome of playing "chicken" with buses. Anyone who drives around campus knows there are tons of students who simply don't pay attention to traffic, and it is the driver's responsibility to not hit them, no matter how infuriating or flagrant the pedestrian's lack of courtesy or awareness.
But every day I see bus drivers essentially challenging pedestrians to get out of the way -- fast. Stand on Green Street in front of the Union for 30 minutes and count the number of times a student would have been hit by a bus is they hadn't taken evasive action. Again, student behavior is one thing, but the bus drivers have an obligation to adjust their driving to avoid hitting people.
So in my view, the problem is everywhere -- on-campus and off -- and we are starting to see the odds catch up with the drivers: one fatality and one injury in the space of 100 days. |
|
Re: MTD and Pedestrians |
by Walker
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
02 Mar 2005
|
|
Public transportation is a good thing. The MTD is essential for transporting people to and from campus and around campus if they are disabled or have limited mobility, just like Dose said. What I don't like is the way MTD has transformed itself into a shuttle service for students within campus...operating on narrow streets like Wright and Matthews, transporting kids from their dorms to the Quad and even from one end of the Quad to the other. The MTD prides itself on the millions of riders each year.....most of those rides occur on the UI campus because every time a student gets on the bus to ride a couple of blocks it counts as a rider. The campus is no longer pedestrian-friendly. |
|
Re: MTD and Pedestrians |
by Playing the Odds
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
02 Mar 2005
|
|
The MTD uses buses and so pedestrians get hit by buses. If we had a tram, pedestrians would get hit by the tram. If the MTD used ox-carts, pedestrians would get hit by ox-carts. A lot of pedestrians get hit by bicycles, although the resulting injuries are usually less serious. Both pedestrians and bicycles get hit by cars. Moving students around on MTD buses may well be the safest option overall, since to my knowledge no one has gotten robbed, raped, or run over on an MTD bus, and the need for car or bicycle parking (and illegal car or bicycle parking) is minimized. I think it's obvious that the shuttle services for both students and faculty has gone a long way to reducing traffic and parking congestion on campus in the last 15 years. The MTD's biggest argument for a tram is that they can't physically move any more buses down Wright Street at peak times. Someday the University will have to have some kind of higher capacity solution, whether it is a tram or more street conversions to bus-only or a combination of the two. |
|
Re: MTD and Pedestrians |
by walker
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
02 Mar 2005
|
|
To Playing the Odds: With all due respect, I don't think it's "obvious" that the MTD campus shuttle service has reduced cars or congestion on campus. It has just put big, noisy, smelly, fast-moving vehicles on narrow streets that are also clogged with cars. The buses should stay on the perimter of campus (Lincoln, Pennsylvania, Green/Springfield) and stay off Wright, Matthews, Goodwin, Gregory, Armory, etc. Students can ride to within a few blocks of their classes, not a few feet, and still make it to class on time. Disabled students and employees can ride in smaller buses like they used to. Sure, now a bus comes along every 5 minutes or so just about everywhere on campus, but at what cost? I miss the quieter old days. There were cars and bicyclists and pedestrians but not the incessant roar of those giant MTD buses carrying students who are perfectly capable of walking a few blocks to class. |
|
Re: MTD and Pedestrians |
by 5
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
02 Mar 2005
|
Just some food for thought in this conversation.
More than just "people on campus" use buses. I used to live out at Country Fair in Champaign and at Town & Country in Urbana and many people take the bus from the outskirts. Walking from Springfield and Country Fair Drive to your job on campus isn't feasible. Public transportation makes it possible for people to live somewhere *other* than campus.
Second, as I pointed out, the MTD buses are all over town, but only students on campus are involved in these accidents. I've lived here for many years and it's pretty simple---look both ways before crossing the street just like your momma taught you.
As I heard it on the news last night, the student in this latest incident was at fault and was issued a ticket.
I am all for pedestrian safety, people using alternative modes of transportation such as bikes and buses, but I am *not* going to feign support for people who walk out into traffic without even bothering to notice their surroundings. |
|
Re: MTD and Pedestrians |
by walker
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
02 Mar 2005
|
|
For the last time, I'll say this: I support the MTD and its role in carrying folks to the jobs around town, including to and from campus. No one has suggested that people walk all the way from Country Fair apartments. On the other hand, I HAVE suggested that students can walk from Lincoln Ave. to the Quad. I oppose the MTD serving as a shuttle service within the campus boundaries. The main purpose of this is to carry students from their dorms to their classes and from one class to the next and I think the costs are higher than the benefits. The only buses on Wright St. should be those who are carrying the handicapped. |
|
Re: MTD and Pedestrians |
by Local Yocal
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
03 Mar 2005
|
|
Would prohibiting Sophmores and Freshmen from bring their cars down here to use help? |
|
Re: MTD and Pedestrians |
by Babs
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
06 Mar 2005
|
I don't think that MTD drivers are any more or less aggressive than any other drivers out there. I'm also wondering just what the logistics of taking buses off campus would be. I work on campus but go to school at Parkland, so I catch the 9B on Wright street. If I had to walk from Turner hall to a location off-campus to pick up the same bus, that would take me 15 - 20 minutes. And I do walk the 1/2 hour to campus unless the weather is really awful.
I almost got hit by a driver recently when crossing the street; not a bus driver, but some idiot driving a car. I was crossing with the light, in the crosswalk, at the corner of Illinois and Vine. He made a left hand turn and almost plowed into me, as I was trying to figure out if I should run or take some other evasive action, because the only thing I was sure of was that the jackass was headed straight for me.
There are a lot of interesections in town (Lincoln and Nevada, for example, or sometimes even Race and Elm), where I make eye contact with drivers as I cross the street (once again, in the crosswalk), because they seem to think they don't have to stop. Rolling out in front of a pedestrian cuts how many nths of a second off one's commute?
In other words, you can't just single out MTD when you're talking about pedestrian safety, because they're a small part of the problem. And the discussion shouldn't be limited to campus, either, because people walk everywhere here. |
|
