Road safety called into question in area near fatal transit bus fire and multi-vehicle wreck

Safety concerns have been raised about the area around a Saddle Ridge intersection where a fiery crash involving two Calgary Transit buses left three dead and more than a dozen people wounded Thursday.

Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal said the section of Saddletowne Circle N.E. was already on his radar for safety updates but added he hopes a review can be expedited.

“I have always felt that we need to do some sort of traffic study or transportation study to look at that circle,” he said. “When that circle was planned, the northeast was way different — from the population size, from vehicular traffic, pedestrian traffic.”

He said he’ll be talking to the city’s transportation department about enhancing traffic safety in the area, as well as seeking input from residents.

“The safety of Calgarians is foremost and a No. 1 priority for me and this council,” he said.

“We just want to grieve with those families who lost their loved ones, and I also want to, at the same time, send tons of gratitude to our first responders.”

Eight vehicles were involved in Thursday afternoon’s fatal crash that resulted in one of the two buses catching fire.

The heat from the flames was so intense, it left scorch marks in the pavement and broken glass fused to the asphalt.

Thirteen passengers were aboard the burning bus, three of whom were declared dead at the scene. The driver was able to exit the vehicle.

The driver of the other bus involved sustained life-altering injuries and was taken to hospital.

A police officer was also injured in the rescue operation.

Dhaliwal said he was shocked when he heard about the incident.

“I had never imagined that something could happen on our safe Calgary Transit network,” he said.

“There was just disbelief and, right away, just thoughts and prayers for those who were involved — victims, our first responders, all of them, and the community as a whole.”

He arrived at the scene around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, by which time the fire had been extinguished and the scene had been secured, he said.

“The police were there, (the fire department) was there, transit team was there … I think the investigating units were settling in and starting to look at what exactly went wrong,” he said.

“As soon as I got a call that this happened, I made sure that I talked to appropriate authorities to get the permission that I could be there, because I wanted to be with the community.”

Dhaliwal said he relied on Calgary Transit growing up and in his early adulthood, and has always seen it as safe and reliable.

“I had never seen anything of this nature,” he said. “This was just out of ordinary. It felt like it was some sort of a movie scene that was unreal.”

The transit vehicle that sparked the deadly chain of events was a diesel bus manufactured by New Flyer running on Route 38, which operates between Brentwood and Saddletowne CTrain station via 32nd Avenue N.E.

The bus that caught fire was a compressed natural gas vehicle built by Nova Bus. It was serving on Route 23, which links Saddletowne station with the South Health Campus in Seton and operates mainly on 52nd Street East.

The area around Saddletowne station is a busy transit hub, with the CTrain’s Blue Line, Max Orange BRT and 14 regular bus route fanning out in all directions.

For some regular transit riders, the incident shone a new light on their daily commute.

Justin Jenkins, who lives just blocks from the Saddletowne LRT station, didn’t see the incident but passed by the aftermath shortly afterward.

“It was crazy,” he said. “Just a lot of fire, chaos, police, a lot of vehicle damage.”

Jenkins’ primary reaction was concern for those involved, but he added that, as a daily transit user, it did make him a bit apprehensive.

Another transit passenger at the Saddletowne LRT station, who takes transit a few times a week, said hearing about the incident changed his feelings slightly about taking the bus.

“It’s scary,” he said.

But Dhaliwal said he views Thursday’s crash as an anomaly.

“One-off accidents do happen when transit buses get into these accidents. But, in my opinion, this is a one-off,” he said.

“The probability of these happening is very, very low in my opinion. Our buses are well-maintained; our drivers are well-trained. (But) I know the first 24, 48 hours, sometimes that shock is sinking in.”

“Any time something like that happens, people get worried about their kid walking to school, they get worried about their loved ones on their commute to work, whether they’re driving, cycling, walking or taking transit,” he said.

“It’s a tragedy, and I think people realize, ‘Oh, that could be anybody — that could be me, that could be somebody that I care about,’ and that’s what happens when we build a city without thinking about our infrastructure as needing to maintain safe transportation.”

However, he said such incidents are exceptionally rare, and transit is, overall, a safe way to get around.

“Whether or not it feels comfortable when we’re talking about taking transit at night, or waiting at a bus stop and we’re not sure when the bus is going to come —  those sorts of situations can make transit feel less safe, but broadly speaking, transit is a safe mode of transportation,” he said.

Williams said he hopes to see officials not only determine the cause of the crash, but make any necessary changes to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

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