Will Next Generation of MTA Buses Reduce Blind Spot?

The transit authority's board is in the process of approving a $185 million contract to build 231 new articulated buses (see p. 116). But New York City Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg is raising an objection.

Trottenberg, who's charged with implementing the city's Vision Zero traffic safety campaign, is also on the MTA board. At the transit committee meeting Monday, she voted against the procurement.

"We need to find a bus design that's going to help reduce that pillar," she said, "which has clearly become an issue for bus drivers in terms of visibility."

Trottenberg is referring to the A-pillar, which attaches the windshield to the bus. The Transport Workers Union has said it can render pedestrians invisible. WNYC has also reported on A-pillars, which help protect the driver of a vehicle in case of collision — but can reduce field of vision.

James Ferrara, the interim president of New York City Transit, said the width of the A-pillar was deliberate. "It’s a protective device for the driver of the bus," he said. "It’s an integral piece for structure of vehicle. With that said, we’re still reaching out to the community of bus builders to see if there’s a better way in which a bus can be designed."

An MTA spokesman said: "if there is a way to reduce the width of the A-pillar without compromising its safety feature and the structural integrity of the bus, then we’ll certainly take a look at that."

But blaming blind spots for bus-pedestrian crashes doesn't satisfy everyone. Earlier this month, after an MTA bus driver killed a woman in a hit-and-run, the driver's lawyer cited visibility as a factor, drawing ire from the victim's family. And a statement from the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, which has fought for stricter penalties for drivers who kill or seriously injure, reads "blind spots are no excuse for failing to yield to a pedestrian."

Last month, the MTA began testing other technologies designed to reduce bus-pedestrian collisions.

The bus procurement comes to the full MTA board for a vote on Wednesday.