ART BUS SERVICE IN
ALBUQUERQUE GOT OFF TO A
ROUGH START... WITH
CRASH
AFTER CRASH.
BUT ONE YEAR LATER, HAVE
DRIVERS LEARNED TO STAY
OUT OF THE
ON SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT --
NEWS 13'S LYSEE MITRI
SHOWS US HOW MANY
CRASHES WE SAW IN THIS
FIRST YEAR... AND HOW
THE CITY IS
TRYING TO BRING THOSE
NUMBERS DOWN.
skidding/crash NATS...
...NATS of crash,
driver: Ahh, f...
ALBUQUERQUE RAPID
TRANSIT -- OR ART --
WITH A CRASH THE FIRST
DAY IT
LAUNCHED ON NOVEMBER
30TH LAST YEAR...
...NATS metal clanking,
towing bus...
AND THEN 12...
MORE... CRASHES...
THE MONTH AFTER THAT.
AND THAT'S JUST
OTHER DRIVERS WENT INTO
THE DEDICATED BUS LANES
ILLEGALLY... OR CUT IN
FRONT OF BUSES IN
INTERSECTIONS.
...Danny Holcomb,
Albuquerque Transit
Director "Well, when I
started, Lysee, I had a
full head of hair.
first month. laughs It
was tough.
It was very stressful.
We weren't sure exactly
what to expect."...
THAT'S ALBUQUERQUE
TRANSIT DIRECTOR DANNY
HOLCOMB. ...horn
account called
art-cidents... and a
website
dedicated to counting
how long it had been
since the last crash...
down to the minutes...
and seconds."...
...nats of bus going
by...
BUT SPEED UP TO TODAY...
AND WE'RE APPROACHING
ONE YEAR OF ART BUS
SERVICE.
SO HAVE THINGS GOTTEN
ANY BETTER? WE GOT
NUMBERS FROM THE CITY,
OF CRASHES INVOLVING ART
BUSES..
THEY SHOW A DROP IN
JANUARY AND FEBRUARY...
DOWN TO 7 EACH MONTH.
THEN -- THE BUMP IN THE
ROAD, NO ONE EXPECTED.
...Lawrence Rael, Chief
Operations Officer "You
know COVID-19 sure did
that none of us had
anticipated"...
SERVICE STOPPED IN
MARCH WHEN THE
GOVERNOR ASKED NEW
MEXICANS TO STAY HOME.
THEN, THE BUSES
STARTED RUNNING AGAIN ON
A LIMITED SCHEDULE JUNE
13TH...
...Bus driver Make sure
sir...
AND AS MORE PEOPLE
STARTED GETTING ON THE
ROAD AGAIN...
THERE WERE 6 CRASHES IN
AUGUST AND 6 IN
SEPTEMBER.
EVEN THOUGH THOSE
NUMBERS AREN'T VERY LOW
COMPARED TO
EARLIER IN THE YEAR...
...NATS OF DOOR
OPENING...
...NATS opens driver
separator, gets in
driver seat...
IF YOU ASK AN ART BUS
DRIVER...THERE'S ONE
BIG
DIFFERENCE...
...rider gets on NATS:
good morning, folks.
welcome aboard... AND
THAT'S WHERE THE
CRASHES ARE HAPPENING
NOW ...NATS: hold on
tight everybody....
BENJI LUECK SAYS HE'S
BEEN DRIVING FOR A-R-T
SINCE ITS LAUNCH.
...Benji Lueck, ART bus
started, there was a lot
more random stuff that
could happen,
like someone just
decided they want to go
to Golden Corral and
they just dart in front
of you. That was kind
of problematic but with
the introduction of
ose pin curbs, that's
nd of minimized those
is.
MID-YEAR -- THE CITY
INSTALLED NEARLY THREE
MILES OF PIN CURBS LIKE
THIS DOWN THE MIDDLE OF
CENTRAL...
TO MINIMIZE POINTS WHERE
THIS CAN HAPPEN.
THE CITY SAYS MOST OF
THE CRASHES NOW ARE
HAPPENING IN
INTERSECTIONS, LIKE HERE
IN AUGUST AT CENTRAL AND
63RD.
THE BLUE CAR HAS A RED
LIGHT... BUT
STARTS A LEFT TURN
ANYWAY,
...11:56 NATS
impact/driver "Ahh,
f" BLEEP IT...
HITTING THE BUS THAT
CAME UP FROM BEHIND.
...Benji Lueck, ART bus
driver "Yeah, like this
intersection, you just
go a little slower
through here"...
central and rio
grande...
...Benji Lueck, ART bus
driver "If you try to
cut in front of us it's
like, these things are
big and they don't stop
on a dime"...
LUECK'S MAIN MESSAGE FOR
DRIVERS? ...Benji Lueck,
always use caution and
look out for a giant
blue bus laughs"...
THE CITY SAYS IT HAS
CONTINUED TO MAKE
ADJUSTMENTS --
LIKE REALIGNING THE
TRAFFIC SIGNALS, TO LINE
UP JUST RIGHT WITH
THE LANES...
...NATS next stop,
central and laguna
steering wheel and
windshield view... OR
TWEAKING THE TIMING OF
THE LIGHTS -- TO MAKE
SURE EVERYONE ON THE
ROAD, HAS A SMOOTH RIDE.
...Lawrence Rael, Chief
Operations Officer
now have a year under
our belt...
although it has been a
very unusual year!"...
THE PANDEMIC HAS THE ART
BUSES RUNNING ON A
LIMITED SCHEDULE
FOR NOW... BUT THE CITY
SYSTEM WILL GROW -- BOTH
IN RIDERSHIP...
...nats of bus
passing...
AND WHERE IT CAN TAKE
RIDERS, EVENTUALLY
GETTING PEOPLE TO
THE SUNPORT EVEN.
...NATS Alright you guys
ON SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT,
LYSEE MITRI, KRQE NEW
13.
WHILE WE LOOKED
SPECIFICALLY AT ART BUS
CRASHES CAUSED BY OTHER
DRIVERS... WHEN IT COMES
TO ALL CRASHES AND
DAMAGES TO ART BUSES
SINCE SERVICE LAUNCHED A
YEAR AGO... THE CITY
SAYS IT HAS
SPENT MORE THAN
216-THOUSAND DOLLARS ON