A federal study of low-cost “curbside” interstate bus lines has found they had seven times the rate of fatal accidents between January 2005 and March 2011 as conventional bus lines that depart from terminals.
The curbside companies, which charge very low fares and leave from curbsides or parking lots, are particularly popular with students and low-budget travelers.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report, released in late October, was prompted by a March 12, 2011 Bronx crash that killed 15 passengers returning from the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.
According to the report, “although accidents among all types of interstate motorcoach carriers (including…the curbside…model) are infrequent, curbside carriers have higher fatal accident and death rates and higher out-of-service rates resulting from driver violations (specifically, fatigued driving and driver fitness violations) compared with conventional carriers.”
The New York Times reported on the findings.
