You must be 21 to drive a bus

OrionFlyer · July 12, 2010, 04:50:50 PM

Quote from: Tritransit Area on July 12, 2010, 01:54:44 PM
Here's an immense side note, but did WMATA put another Orion VII in the new scheme? I see in the video where the media just walked in that there's a silver Orion VII there. 2665 wasn't moved, was it?

Yes, it has been moved. According to NextBus, it's been there for sometime now.

<body copyright="All data copyright WMATA Washington 2010.">
<vehicle id="2665" routeTag="null" dirTag="null" lat="38.920971" lon="-76.970467" secsSinceReport="973945" predictable="false" heading="-4" speedKmHr="0.0"/>
</body>

Go here: http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html and copy 38.920971 into the "Decimal Deg. Latitude" box, and copy -76.970467 into the "Decimal Deg. Longitude" box. Then click "show point". It'll show that it's a Bladensburg.

WMATAGMOAGH · July 13, 2010, 08:45:59 PM

Don't write off 9318 just yet, though I imagine the odds against it being retired are not good:

From the Dr Gridlock blog:

William Jackson, the 19-year-old who allegedly deceived Metro security and drove off in a bus on Friday, apparently shares an address with a man who has the name of an actual Metro bus operator, according to public documents.

Jackson was arrested and charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle and fleeing an accident. Property records show that a man named Stephen Dabney owns a house at the address listed in the charging documents.

"We have an employee named Stephen Dabney who works at Metro as a bus operator," Metro spokesman Reggie Woodruff said in an e-mail on Tuesday.

On Friday Jackson allegedly entered the Bladensburg bus garage, wearing a bus operator's uniform, started a bus, and drove off along the B2 route, picking up several passengers along the way.

Metro did not immedately respond to questions about whether Dabney is part of the ongoing Metro Transit Police investigation into the stolen bus incident, which ended dramatically when Jackson allegedly crashed the vehicle into a tree. No one was injured, Metro said. A damage assessment of the bus is underway, Woodruff said.

-- Ann Scott Tyson

Staff writer Keith Alexander and researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.

By Michael Bolden | July 13, 2010; 2:07 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Metro

aznboy4305 · July 13, 2010, 10:02:50 PM

I'm not sure where everyone is getting the idea that 9318 is totaled, no pictures of the damage or even a detailed explanation of the tree collision has been released. My understanding is that the bus tore off a tree limb, not necessarily "crashing INTO the tree". It is more likely that he took a corner too close or ran into some low hanging branches and somehow tore off a limb, especially since he "parked" the bus and walked away.

Tritransit Area · July 14, 2010, 03:58:25 PM

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/Metro_Bus_Passengers_Speak_Out_About_Imposter_Driver_Washington_DC.html

Seems like it caused some damage. The question is, how much damage did he cause. If it is quite significant, WMATA's likely not going to waste money trying to fix up a 20 year old bus when it's currently receiving an order of buses that will replace it.

News:

You must be 21 to drive a bus

OrionFlyer

WMATAGMOAGH

aznboy4305

Tritransit Area