March 7, 2014 ~ TransACTION Newsletter

SPECIAL EDITION

Questions - Should transit agency members take action, and what action should be taken, for New Flyer seat configuration? This seat configuration is a common one in all bus manufacturers. If the member has other buses with the same configuration, should the transit agency take action, and what action should be taken? If there are buses in process of manufacture, should the transit agency request (or accept if offered) a different seat configuration (regardless of the manufacturer)? Gillig has recognized the issue, but has not taken the same stance as New Flyer (click here for Gillig letter).

Risk Treatment Options

No matter what the control, WSTIP recommends addressing the issue fleet-wide and not just in New Flyer buses. WSTIP also recommends addressing the configuration issue on buses in the process of manufacture with the Q-straint pod system, seat removal/stanchions, or side mounted seats or some combination of those options.

WSTIP asked WSDOT to explore with the FTA any concerns about reducing the number of seats available for use on vehicles purchased with FTA grant funding. There does not appear to be any issue from the FTA.

Here is a list of options you might want to consider.

This option is the one that King County Metro has decided to take. Click here for their Vehicle Maintenance Service Bulletin entitled Front ADA Seating/Barrier Retrofit (courtesy of King County Metro)

Q'straint Q'pod is a particularly good option for buses in the process of being manufactured.

Combinations of the low and moderate cost options are also options. For example, Spokane Transit has decided to remove the seats in question on one side and install a side facing seat, and on the other side of the bus, just disable the seats and install covers to provide more time to consider alternatives. Their signage will only be placed on the seat covers.

Risk Treatments Not in the Agency’s Control

Although New Flyer and other manufacturers do not see this issue as safety issue worthy of recall, it is still possible that a recall might be possible if pushed from the purchaser perspective. WSTIP feels this is worth exploration. To this end, WSTIP is taking the following actions:

• Engaged a forensic engineering firm to review the situation and provide potential engineering support for a recall effort.
• Engaged a product liability attorney to advise WSTIP on the advisability and approach to take with a recall effort.
• Initiated a cooperative approach with other transit risk pools in terms of the recall effort and data analytics. (To see CalTip’s recommendation to their members, please click here.)

Because WSTIP is pursuing a recall option, please keep records of the decisions you have made on the configuration and the costs associated with retrofitting your fleet.