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Spokane Transit Authority investigating navigation issues but plans to redeploy double-decker buses after crash

As the bus is slowly pulled backward by a wrecker, a Spokane Transit Authority worker disentangles the warning lights of the railroad overpass from the wreckage of the upper deck of an STA double-decker bus that slammed into the train viaduct over Cedar Street on Sunday. (Jesse Tinsley/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
As the bus is slowly pulled backward by a wrecker, a Spokane Transit Authority worker disentangles the warning lights of the railroad overpass from the wreckage of the upper deck of an STA double-decker bus that slammed into the train viaduct over Cedar Street on Sunday. (Jesse Tinsley/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
By Emry Dinman emryd@spokesman.com(509) 459-5472

Spokane Transit Authority will disable navigation systems for its fleet of double-decker buses when they return to service after one was routed to pass beneath the Cedar Street viaduct that was too low for the extra-tall vehicles. The Jan. 18 crash injured seven passengers.

The double-decker buses remain parked, though transit officials are confident the fleet of seven buses, each costing $1.4 million, can safely return to service with the implementation of extra safety protocols.

The Spokesman-Review reported on Jan. 20 that an onboard navigation system had routed the driver onto Cedar Street. Three hours after the crash, transit agency officials warned drivers on the double-decker routes to stop using the navigation system. Transit officials declined to confirm at the time whether the software error occurred, acknowledging only that the agency was investigating whether it had.

When double-decker buses are redeployed, the navigation system will remain disabled for those routes and drivers will “rely on their required knowledge of assigned routes, consistent with agency training and long-standing policy,” the agency announced Monday. The agency is also working with Trapeze Software, the vendor of the TransitMaster navigation system used on Spokane-area buses, to “determine the origin and scope of any software-related issues.”

In addition, all drivers assigned to double-decker buses will complete a second round of training and will be required to make a “safety stop” before driving under any railroad viaducts, the agency announced. Double-decker bus drivers will also be required to verbally acknowledge to dispatchers that they are driving a double-decker bus and their mandatory route whenever departing the downtown bus plaza or when entering downtown Spokane.

“Safety remains our first and foremost priority and guides everything we do at Spokane Transit,” said STA CEO Karl Otterstrom. “This investigation is being conducted methodically and in accordance with our federally required safety protocols.”

“While that work continues, we are confident that our double-decker buses are operationally safe to return to service, and we will continue to take a disciplined, cautious approach as the review moves forward,” Otterstrom added.

Besides the $1.4 million cost of each double-decker bus, deploying the seven buses has other costs, including training staff. Spokane Transit officials have at no point suggested retiring the vehicles following the crash.

The agency also announced Monday that the driver of the bus that crashed earlier this month was “trained and authorized to operate double-decker buses” and has experience operating the double-decker routes, though officials made no mention of the extent of the driver’s experience.

“We’re not going to disclose that at this time,” wrote agency spokeswoman Carly Cortright in a Monday text. “It will be released as part of the full investigative report.”