City outlines next steps on driver cameras and other bus crash inquest recommendations
Recent coroner's inquest examined 2019 double-decker crash that killed 3 passengers
The City of Ottawa says it will examine the potential installation of driver-facing cameras on OC Transpo buses, following a recommendation from a recent coroner's inquest into a fatal 2019 bus crash.
The nearly month-long inquest in April delved into the circumstances of a packed double-decker bus slamming into a Transitway shelter on Jan. 11, 2019. Three passengers — Judy Booth, Bruce Thomlinson and Anja Van Beek — died in the crash and many others were injured.
While the city accepted civil responsibility, the driver, Aissatou Diallo, was charged with 38 counts of dangerous driving causing death or bodily harm. She was acquitted of all charges in a judge-only trial in 2021.
Diallo did not testify at either the inquest or her trial, but an OC Transpo official told the inquest that if a driver-facing camera had been on board Diallo's bus, more would be known about her actions in the lead-up to the crash.
The jurors ultimately issued 60 non-binding recommendations, two-thirds of which were directed at the city. They included a call for Ottawa to "install operator-facing cameras on all OC Transpo buses to be used for safety purposes."
"This data should be regularly tracked by an accountable member of the governance team," the jurors added.
Adjusting current cameras
The city has now provided its initial response to the recommendations, with "a comprehensive status update and action plan" to follow later this year.
City staff agree with the idea of operator-facing cameras on all OC Transpo buses, adding that "a robust policy/program will be developed" similar to the one that already exists for cameras on OC Transpo's federally regulated LRT line.
But installing cameras could bring "significant budgetary pressures," the city warned councillors ahead of the next meeting of Ottawa's transit committee on Thursday.
"In order to develop a response to this recommendation, research will need to be completed, a robust policy must be drafted, all relevant stakeholders and unions must be consulted, and a technical analysis ... will need to be undertaken. Once all of these steps have been completed, the costs can be presented for consideration through the budget process," the city said.
One option, according to the city's initial response to the recommendations, could involve adjusting existing CCTV cameras on all buses purchased since 2016 so that they offer a wide-angle view that would include the driver.
Just over 350 of the buses in OC Transpo's fleet currently have CCTV cameras, the city clarified with CBC via email, while the remaining 382 buses do not have onboard cameras.
"Staff are currently assessing the feasibility of utilizing the current CCTV camera system to address the inquest recommendation or determine if a new camera system is required," according to the city's email.
Union concerns
Cost aside, the notion of driver-facing cameras on buses has sparked privacy concerns with the local union representing OC Transpo drivers.
When lawyers made their final pitches to the inquest jury, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 279 was the only group to oppose driver-facing cameras on buses.
However, in an interview with Ottawa Morning the day after the jury issued its recommendations, ATU Local 279 President Noah Vineberg clarified the union's position.
"Privacy always becomes an issue, but that does not trump safety," Vineberg said. "As long as [the use of camera footage is] properly monitored, as long as there's an agreement in place on how those systems are going to be used, and if it's in the lens of safety ... then ATU 279 doesn't stand in the way."
The city said its plan "will ensure appropriate protections for employees' privacy."
Consultations on LRT cameras took several years, the union's lawyer told the inquest.
Negotiations on a new contract for OC Transpo drivers have begun and have involved discussion of video footage, Vineberg said via email.
More days of retraining
The inquest jury also recommended that a portion of OC Transpo's bus fleet be dedicated to training drivers.
City staff said they support this idea in principle but that given the current shortage of buses, the recommendation can't reasonably be implemented without significant impacts to service.
"It is expected that a stable, reliable fleet will not be fully available until Q4 2027," according to the city's response to the recommendations.
The inquest heard that after she was involved in a preventable and serious collision in December 2018, Diallo received only one day of refresher training before being put back on the road. Within a week, she was involved in the fatal Transitway crash.
"How quickly after a previous incident she was back behind the wheel — that was really kind of astonishing to me," said Laura Shantz, a member of the advocacy group Ottawa Transit Riders.
The jury recommended the city establish a separate evaluation procedure for probationary operators involved in serious preventable collisions, and that before the driver returns to service they receive a minimum of five days of retraining.
Aspects of this recommendation are currently in place, according to the city, but staff will review the recommendation and report back to the transit committee later this year.
The committee will meet Thursday to discuss the city's initial inquest response and other agenda items starting at 9:30 a.m.
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