Rapids Run Red Lights—but do the LAPD and Sheriff care?

For many years I have noticed that Metro busses run red lights with impunity. Neither LAPD nor any other police agency appears to have jurisdiction over Metro, as I have never seen a bus stopped nor cited.

What about the children? Metro implies that grave injury and even death can result from running red lights:

more after the transfer. . .

(Scroll to the bottom of the page for video proof and documentation of these claims.)

One might take heed of the subtext of the olde joke told in New York:

A tourist to NYC took a cab upon entering the city.
They were coming to a red light, and the cabbie shot right through it. The tourist all but screamed: "Why'd you do that?!" The cabbie answered that that is how his brother drives.
They came to another red light. Again the driver tore through it. "Why'd you do that?" The same answer was thrown over the cabbie's shoulder: "Hey, this is how his brother drives."
Approaching a green light, the cabbie slams on the brakes. The tourist's heart nearly goes into his throat, but he managed to shout, "Why do you do that?!"
The cabbie replied, "My brother could be coming the other way."

There is a great difference, however, between a relatively small motor car and a 10-tonne (when empty, considerably more when not) bus tearing through a red light—especially when the light is already red and the agency responsible has established a hypocritical policy of admonishing motorists to not red lights even as it has handed down memos to LAPD to not stop red-light running busses—as seen in the above billboard. (See it for yourself on Wilshire Blvd. at S. Bonnie Brae, facing east on the north side of Wilshire.)

Even as LAPD and L.A. sheriffs look on, however, Metro busses run red lights through busy downtown intersections. (Sit back; this is a lengthy post with loads of video footage.)

When contacted, neither Metro, LASD nor LAPD would offer insight to this phenomenon—other than standard comments about their being "no policy" and that Metro bus drivers are not allowed to run red lights and will be cited. From Metro Dispatch Operator #83 (who would not give her name, just her operator number), I did learn, however, that Metro drivers are debriefed frequently on safety measures. She also stated that "some drivers are more serious abourt staying on schedule, but liek anyone, they are not supposed to sacrifice safety for being on time." Moreover, "if Metro drivers run red lights and are cited, they pay the fine and the points are accrued on the CA drivers license." Sgt. Nunez at the L.A. County Sheriffs Transit Services Bureau (323.563.5000) would offer no comment on the matter. When pressed, Nunez offered only refer the number to MTA Bus Operations (800.464.2111.) The LAPD Metro Division no longer exists, as it was replaced by the L.A. County Sheriffs Transit Services Bureau in 2003.

On 25 March 2000, I witnessed an incident involving a bicyclist and a MTA bus. Afterward, I spoke to LAPD Transit Bus Division officers Flores (badge #34220) and Alvotto (badge #34682). They informed me of the aforementioned memo, one that explicitly stated that LAPD officers (as well as other municipal and county law enforcement officers) were to not stop MTA busses for regular traffic infractions—including red lights. The incident in question was one in which a west-bound MTA 4 driver crossed three lanes of Sunset Blvd—at Michaeltorena—in an attempt to run down a bicyclist she had allegedly nearly hit while cruising in the Sunset Blvd bike lane mere minutes earlier:

All agencies contacted denied there is nor ever was there such a memo as described by Metro. Calls made to the telephone numbers on the business cards collected in 2000 (above) were either no longer working or the names and I.D. were said to not be recognized.

But back to today, and the death race busses that criss-cross this hick town.

One need not go far—nor film much—at any given major intersection, to capture some rather eye-popping footage of Metro busses blatantly running red lights. Here are a few clips captured over the Labour Day weekend:

     

There is more, however.

The following video shows an intersection on Skid Row—5th and Main—where one can be assured that five minutes of patience on any given day during rush hour will be rewarded with at least one Metro bus blasting up the hill and through a nearly stale red light. If one is blind, elderly and in a wheelchair, what does one do when such a 10-tonne behemoth blasts through that red light not four blocks from LAPD's central division? (Said video is a bit blurry owing to the medium of cellphone video, but if anyone truly wishes a clear copy—Metro, we are speaking to you; Roger, Pam, Tom Horne, et al: HEY!—we will have a transfer that clears up the vision.)

 

After all the calls, I went out to get some more footage of busses running red lights during rush hour in downtown. On Thursday, 04 September, two LAPD bike officers were present for the second day in a row at 5th and Broadway round 4:15 p.m., handing out citations to jaywalkers and private motorists. The following clip shows a Metro Rapid bus entering an intersection AFTER the light has turned red, and then stopping right in front of one of the LAPD officers, who blatantly ignores the obvious infraction only to stop a private motorist in a small black car. The bus in question rolls forward of an already stopped Rapid, discharges and picks up passengers—giving ample time to the officer to cite the Metro driver—and then departs without so much as a word of warning. On the other side of 5th Street, the officer's partner is handing out jaywalking tickets. Busses continued to run red lights (watch the entire clip) with no citations handed out.

BUT WAIT—there's still more! The LAPD is not the only agency allowing busses to run the red. At Pershing Square, instead of train-spotting, one is treated to LASD hanging round having bull sessions in the mornings and afternoons. The same day as the above video, not two hours later, I caught this footage of more busses running red lights at 5th and Hill while no fewer than four LASD (three on motorcycles, one in a car) enjoyed the setting sun while glaring at straphangers:

 

 

Could The Bus Bench be Metro's brother?

-BusTard

Comments

[Dennis]

I wonder, How much more damage would happen if the buses had to break hard in the middle of the intersection because the red light appeared unexpectantly?

Buses can't stop on a dime, so they either have to go much slower, which will have you create another post on how slow the buses operate or they have to prepare for this procedure provided the operator lightly taps his horn to cross traffic that s/he's clearing the intersection at a red because the vehicles don't have the stopping distance of a Porsche 911 turbo.

[Browne]

Good point Dennis. There are times when running the light is warranted.

It's all about balance and letting the public know. If busses occasionally run lights out of safety, then pedestrians need to be informed of that as well as other drivers.

If you're in a car, how do you know to hesitate if you see a bus? I think if the public was more informed of the plight of bus drivers the public might not be so annoyed with them, because right now to many in the public (especially in the cycling and private vehicle world), bus drivers are viewed in likability between lawyers and DMV employees :)

Totally not their fault, but people tend to get angry at what they don't understand.

Everything in LA is a bit too insular.

[BusTard]

Dennis,
As a former professional 18-wheeled truck driver, I am well aware of the behaviour of momentum, especially when considerable mass is involved. And as a person who has been watching this phenomenon of busses running red lights—which anyone can do at most any busy downtown L.A. intersection—I can also state that Metro's drivers know the term "stale green." It is when a green light has been green for a while and is easily divined by pro drivers, which is why they have such wide windshields and are seated above private motor traffic's line of view. One can determine a stale green by watching it (the very weight you mention is why pro drivers SHOULD watch farther ahead than regular motorists) and the non-flashing 'don't walk" icon. The bus drivers know they can stop, and the distance between lights is not that great on the cross-streets (where the occurrence of running a red lights is far higher among Metro bus drivers).

Too, a fair amount of the red lights run by Metro bus drivers are done so from a dead stop, where the bus stop is on the side before the intersection, after a bus has closed its doors. In such instances, it is not about "brak[ing] hard" but merely not letting off the brake in the first place when the light turns yellow while the bus is stopped. Metro busses running red lights happens so frequently that one need but travel to most any intersection along 5th or 6th Streets, to name a couplea thoroughfares, between Main and Flower to observe this behaviour. I see it every single day and I do not even stop to look for it. You can too, should you walk round and just watch.
(Don't get me started about how Metro drivers too often do brake hard when approaching a bus stop, doing exactly what you state they should not. I have a broken camera, thanks to Montebello Bus Lines, and I have seen countless people go down owing to that which is not supposed to happen.)
Thank you for allowing me to share these points.

[Pedestrain]

Several of your videos show busses that enter the intersection on yellow, then the light turns red.

These defeat the purpose of your illustration. This is not "running the red".

Given that we now apparently have contract Metrolink operators running reds while TEXTING, I'd think your videos could get Phil Shuman or some other Channel 11 hack to pick up the story.

[BusTard]

Pedestrian-
I have to disagree that the two (out of several) videos showing a Metro bus entering an intersection when the light is long yellow "defeats the purpose." Had I a broadcast camera, the entire situation would have been easier to understand. The hill on 5th at main is an example.

There is a bus stop east of Main on 5th, where there is an incline. The driver takes off from a dead stop and has to accelerate ferociously despite the fact that the door was still open while the stale green was turning to yellow. As I stated in a comment above, keeping the brake pedal down would have been the solution. There was no need to speed through a long yellow.

Up the street at Hill, drivers seeing a long yellow nevertheless tear through the intersection when they should be slowing down half a block earlier.

There are several other intersections where I am collecting footage of the same, but more on that in a future post.

In any case, I suggest again as I have previously: pop out and watch. Rush hours during weekdays are best.

As for implying that most broadcasters are not hacks, well, that is a whole post for another day.