Meeting_Body
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Preamble
Motion by:
DIRECTORS HAHN, HORVATH, MITCHELL, SOLIS, AND KREKORIAN
Bus Sensor Technology
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has a bus fleet of approximately 2,200 buses serving about 800,000 daily passenger boardings. Every day Metro moves hundreds of thousands of Angelenos almost entirely without incident, getting people safely to jobs, to school, and to see family. Metro buses have, on a few rare occasions, struck a pedestrian. In some of those instances, the bus operator was unaware of the collision until sometime later, tragically leaving behind a person who was seriously harmed.
In recent years, vehicle safety technology has become increasingly available, providing drivers with tools such as: pedestrian detection, traffic light detection, and lane marking identification. Integrating safety technology like Pedestrian Detection can help reduce the risk of serious and fatal accidents.
Pedestrian Detection consists of a camera fitted in front of the interior rear-view mirror to identify objects, radar sensor(s) integrated into the vehicle's grille to determine the position of nearby obstacles, and a central control unit to analyze the data collected and coordinate the system functions. When a Pedestrian Detection system identifies a potential collision, the system either provides an alert to the bus operator to apply the brakes or the system can automatically apply the brakes to avoid potential collisions. Emerging technologies that have the potential to complement and enhance commercially available pedestrian detection systems, such as connected vehicle technology, may also soon become available.
While these types of technology may not always be able to help avoid a collision completely, they can help reduce occurrences as well as help minimize injuries if impacts do occur.
Subject
SUBJECT: BUS SENSOR TECHNOLOGY MOTION
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RECOMMENDATION
Title
APPROVE Motion by Directors Hahn, Horvath, Mitchell, Solis, and Krekorian that the Board direct the Chief Executive Officer to report back in June 2023 with recommendations on these new safety features and the feasibility of (1) incorporating them into new bus procurements, (2) installing them into our existing bus fleets, in order to reduce pedestrian collisions and to ensure that bus operators are alerted in the event of a pedestrian-involved collision, and (3) exploring other emerging collision avoidance technologies, pursuant to Metro’s Street Safety Data Sharing and Collaboration Policy and Action Plan.