Description
I often see, or hear, the big blue and white Yale school bus flying up Bishop Street with the pedal to the medal. The bus screams by, both in speed and sound, revving its engine flying up to Orange Street as if it was heading to YNHH with someone in labor. If a child or person who'd been drinking too much happened to wander into the road, ferget it! Two points for that driver. I tried to tell a cop who was parked on Bishop when I got home tonight, but no one was in the cruiser at the time. I think NHPD oughta park themselves with a speed detector and ticket whoever's racing up and down our streets.
60 Comments
Ben (Guest)
Anonymous (Guest)
Ben (Guest)
RSweeney (Guest)
Anonymous (Guest)
nate (Guest)
Kristin (Guest)
cjzurcher (Guest)
cjzurcher (Guest)
eddie (Guest)
Resident (Guest)
Resident (Guest)
Anonymous (Guest)
Don (Guest)
This is a serious problem, but our comments seem like so much tongue-clucking.
Any way we can get some action?!
Pedro (Guest)
http://yale.transloc.com/
per (Guest)
Eddie (Guest)
So let's take action. I will personally order a large pizza for anyone who can catch a Yale bus speeding on video and post the YouTube link on this string.
Next best is recording the date/time/location of the incident and reporting it, as well as posting it here.
run down (Guest)
Anonymous (Guest)
I also overhear folks saying the Transit is always hiring, i wonder if something else is afoot there , like a turnover rate for cost saving (med/pension)
Union trying to save the position for an in-law or incarcerated relat.who will be out soon
joe (Guest)
Laurie (Guest)
They assault people with just an inkling of suits , i've seen that at Yale NH Hospital also.
They expect and get political favors
So stand back thee ,bow to the blue
Ray (Guest)
BillySmith (Guest)
Anonymous (Guest)
Resident (Guest)
joey (Guest)
Time and time again we see hundreds of posts , people complaining and warning , the answers are as such "before someone gets killed" - well another person got killed.
After the Yale Med student got nailed at So.Frontage and a few students witnessed cars beating the light ,they asked a cop why he did'nt ticket the violator, the cop replied, there was nothing he can do - bull, they have motorcycles and do a heck of a job on old ladies on Whitney near Hamden , and a few other locales in the town
Mary (Guest)
David Streever (Registered User)
I feel badly calling this dude out, but 57cm71 (a yale suv) blew the red at Orange/edwards as a few of us rode back from our monthly ECC meeting.
Yale already has GPS in these things. It's time to put money where the mouth is & start monitoring.
the sheer level of lawless behavior & inappropriate driving I've seen from these vehicles is ridiculous. They think they are above the law, and Yale encourages them (and it's students) to live in some gated community where they need to be shuttled from downtown to EDWARDS street for crying out loud, at 9pm on a Monday night.
Ben (Guest)
Resident (Guest)
Eddie (Guest)
Ben (Guest)
Resident (Guest)
David Streever (Registered User)
tristanrobin (Guest)
Resident (Guest)
tristanrobin (Guest)
ncmc (Guest)
Resident (Guest)
LCI Citywide Helper (Verified Official)
We've made a formal call to the Yale Police about this issue. If there are GPS records that we can look at we might make some progress on this issue!!
I've asked that a memo go to all drivers of Yale Transit so they are on notice that speeding is illegal / unacceptable / grounds for termination!
If they stop speeding...We should have a See Click Fix Pizza party!! I vote that all New Haven thin pizza be served....the way it should be....Brick oven goodness....New Haven Style.
We will post more comments when we hear back from the Yale PD about this Quality of life Issue.
Here is a photo to distract all from the speed of Yale Transit....Enjoy!
David Streever (Registered User)
Evan Trachten (Guest)
I am the LCI_WATCHER:
Evan Trachten
Acquisition & Disposition Coordinator
LCI
203.946.8373
etrachte@newhavenct.net
Anonymous (Guest)
i posted this on one of the other many yale shutle threds:
i dont thnk these drivers understand that streets like mansfield are a shared space with many children, cyclists and pedestrians --- not just a conduit for vehicles to speed thru as fast as possible . i wish they would show some respect for tohers.
LCI Citywide Helper (Verified Official)
We spoke to the Yale Police and they are going to address this quality of life issue.
They hear "our complaints" and will be addressing them.
We have a call into the Transit Department at Yale and should be updated on Monday August 3, 2009.
We will post the highlights of our conversation.
Thank you See Click Fix-ers.....keep this thread alive with updates and good information.
Anonymous (Guest)
Eddie (Guest)
Once we get the Yale Shuttle buses to slow down, I'd like to work on the New Haven Public Works trucks.
I saw a big panel truck with city markings getting off the highway onto Humphrey Street yesterday afternoon, swerving around a car waiting to turn onto State (blasting his horn all the while), and then gunning it up Humphrey. I swear if I could have caught him I'd have put my bike lock through his window and punched him in the face.
There are families with kids living on my block. Next to Yale Shuttle buses, city trucks are the worst violators.
g (Guest)
Mitch (Guest)
Maybe a tax issue or credit Yale is using,to use those at nite like that. It's a real nice service they are providing it's staff and grad students, but are they too terrified to use the service.Offering the ride on one hand and strongly deterring one from using it .They do have it if u dare
The police are probably hesitant to enforce the law as they don't want to offend the University ,plus it's probably their kid on the bus riding like the NightRider
Biagio (Guest)
to "G" @ 07/31/2009 at 05:51PM
Let me make sure I understand this... you called the NHPD, told them you were blocking a transit bus because he ran a red light and they said they'd call you back?
Okay... I think this is an even worse situation than the busses. When the police don't even respond to calls... especially one that can get violent quickly... then there's a major issue.
LCI_WATCHER (Guest)
We spoke with Yale Transit about this issue. They are happy the public is reporting what is happening out in the streets of New Haven.
Please use this form to report unsafe driving habits. Please try to get a bus number # or a location and a time.
http://www.yale.edu/transportationoptions/feedback/index.html.
Please keep this thread alive and update it if you see good or bad driving by Yale Transit.
Resident (Guest)
I saw a Yale Shuttle bus driving at the speed limit last night. This was nice and instantly improved my quality of life that evening. Thank you, Yale shuttle driver!
But seriously, when you guys speed, it really ruins the ambiance of this town.
Anonymous (Guest)
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
If that's true, anonymous commenter, it seems that the schedules should all be readjusted assuming longer travel times and far slower travel speeds (and then those speeds should be enforced through some kind of speed monitoring system).
From an economic development, quality of life and public health perspective, there's absolutely no reason why vehicles like these should be traveling at more than 15 miles per hour anywhere within New Haven's central street grid.
Does Yale currently have a policy on the top speeds its drivers should go? If not, it needs to set one. Just because there is a posted speed limit doesn't mean that that is the ideal speed.
Tristan Robin (Guest)
Tuesday evening, around 10pm, I was traveling Whitney from Hamden to New Haven. Along the route, about the area of Edwards Street, I was practically driven into the oncoming lane of traffic by a Yale Shuttle bus which was speeding, not only above the speed limit, but using both his AND the next lane as well. I believe the bus number was 27 - but I didn't report it because I can't be absolutely positive that was the number.
Scary moment.
Common sense (Guest)
The use of these buses should be encouraged, not threatened by these threads. They provide an essential function for the university, which is the central institution of the city. The bus drivers work long hours and shuttle thousands of people to and from school and work every day. They are also important energy reducing machines, and the Yale buses have already started shifting towards bio diesel fueled rides. The buses are loud because they are buses, and you all live in a city- deal with the noise.
The bus drivers are under a lot of pressure to adhere to a schedule while having to deal with people in a hurry and horrible downtown traffic. Instead of trying to get one bus driver fired with your video camera so you can eat pizza, go down to city hall and ask them how they are going to rectify the ongoing traffic logjams on Whitney avenue and orange street in the mornings.
Tristan Robin (Guest)
To the best of my knowledge, nobody is trying to "threaten" the use of Yale shuttle buses.
I believe the only thing people are asking is that the bus drivers operate within the traffic laws and regulations that all of us have to drive. Is there some particular reason you are defending public transportation drivers who break speed laws and use more than one lane when driving?
It simply seems if these bus drivers are too harried and pressured to operate under unmanageable schedules, the schedules should be adjusted or more buses added.
I wouldn't expect other citizens to ignore dangerous driving because the operators are harried and pressured.
Eddie (Guest)
I doubt that anyone posting here is anti-bus. That's not the issue. The issue is that Yale buses in particular have a long and well chronicled history of driving too fast through residential neighborhoods, to the point where they are a public nuisance and a hazard.
Frankly, some of the Yale Shuttle Bus drivers should be fired. I have seen buses cruise down Humphrey Street at speeds approaching 50 miles an hour. Had I managed to get it on video, you can damn well bet I'd go public with it -- and I'd expect to see someone's job on the line. There are people on my street with young children.
I do have some sympathy for the drivers, but being behind schedule is no excuse for driving dangerously. I suspect the real culprit is management. Tight schedules translate to lower costs.
Feel free to depict us as a bunch of whiners, but the attention we've brought to this issue seems to be paying off. In the last few months I've noticed far fewer speeding shuttle buses, and I suspect the drivers are aware they're under scrutiny.
Anonymous (Guest)
Anonymous (Guest)
Tristan -- that secton of Whitney Avenue is a HUGE PROBLEM thanks to the city's decision to stripe 13 foot lanes there, instead of the 10-11 foot lanes used elsewhere on the avenue.
It seems that the city engineers don't understand the direct relationship between lane width and vehicular speed.
Closed BB (Registered User)
Believe the Yale buses have stopped speeding on Bishop.
Thanks Yale for respecting our neighborhoods.