Icy Unmarked Stop with Standees and a Wheelchair
At 7:40 a.m. on a 12°F morning, you are operating a 40-foot transit bus on a downtown route. You have 38 seated passengers and 6 standees behind the standee line. A passenger in a wheelchair is already secured at the forward securement area. You are 7 minutes behind schedule. At an unmarked corner, a group of four people waits beside a snowbank; the only clear curb space is across a patch of ice, and a passenger onboard asks to get off there because it is closest to her office. The next designated stop is three blocks away and has a cleared curb. The dispatcher radios that a second wheelchair passenger will board at that next stop. What do you do?
1. What should you do at the unmarked corner, and how do you respond to the passenger who wants off?
Read the worked answer
Do not stop at the unmarked corner. The curb is blocked by a snowbank and the only path is across ice, so passengers would step into a slip and trip hazard and possibly into traffic. An unmarked corner is not an approved stop unless dispatch confirms it. Tell the passenger clearly that you will let her off at the next designated stop three blocks away, which has a cleared curb, and offer to help her plan the short walk. If she insists, do not open the door; safety and policy control the stop, not the schedule. At the next stop, pull close to the cleared curb, set the parking brake, and monitor passengers as they exit.
2. At the next stop, a wheelchair passenger boards while six standees are aboard. What checks and limits apply?
Read the worked answer
First apply the standee limit: no rider may stand forward of the standee line, and standees are not allowed when the bus will travel faster than 35 mph. Check the next leg; if it exceeds 35 mph, those six riders must sit or wait for another bus. For the wheelchair: deploy the lift on level, clear ground; ensure the chair is centered and its brakes are set; use the four-point tie-down and lap/shoulder belt; secure the chair facing forward; then stow the lift and confirm the aisle is clear. Do not move until the wheelchair is secured and all standees are behind the line. If the lift fails or the securement point is damaged, do not board the passenger; call dispatch.