The number of collisions involving GO buses appears to be on the rise.
According to data provided to CP24 by Metrolinx, there have been 897 crashes involving GO buses between April 2014 and March, including 313 in the most recent fiscal year.
That number represents a 19.92 per cent jump from the 261 collisions that were reported in 2014/2015; however it is a 3.1 per cent decline from 2015/2016 when there were 323 collisions involving GO buses.
It should be noted that the increase in crashes can be partly but not fully attributed to a five per cent increase in GO bus service since 2014/2015.
“We are always concerned when we experience any increase in collision statistics as we take safety very seriously,” Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said in an email provided to CP24. “Collision numbers can fluctuate year over year based on a number of factors, including total kilometers driven and weather.”
Of the 897 GO bus collisions reported over the last three years, Metrolinx has classified nearly half of them (417) as preventable.
Metrolinx defines a preventable collision as one “in which a driver failed to do everything reasonable and possible to prevent it.”
Speaking with CP24 on Friday morning. Aikins said that GO Transit is still “one of the safest transit systems in the world.”
She said that most collisions involving GO buses are “minor” and that those deemed preventable aren’t necessarily the result of driver error.
“When we say preventable it is separate and apart from any police investigation. We do our own investigation and determine whether the driver could have done something to prevent the collision. You have to look beyond the numbers,” she said.
Though the number of collisions involving GO buses, there are very few collisions involving GO Trains. In fact, over the last three years there have only been five such incidents and none of those were related to crew error.
Aikins also noted that all drivers must complete and pass a “rigorous” seven-week training that “exceeds all MTO regulations.”
