Calgary councillor seeks independent probe of bus crash

A Calgary city councillor wants an independent investigation into the Oct. 15 crash and explosion involving two Calgary Transit buses in Saddle Ridge that killed three people and injured 16, and Mayor Jeremy Farkas says he supports the idea.

Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal raised the call at a city council meeting on Tuesday, CTV News reported. He wants the review to look at both the compressed natural gas buses and the design of the intersection at Saddletowne Circle and 80 Avenue N.E., where the eight-vehicle chain-reaction collision happened.

“If it’s one person, two person, I don’t care as long as it’s done externally and there’s no biases built into final recommendations,” Dhaliwal told reporters on Thursday, according to CBC News. He said he would like a root-cause review similar to the one that followed the two ruptures of the Bearspaw feeder main.

Farkas said Wednesday he backs the call. “I fully support Coun. Dhaliwal and his call for an independent review to first address questions that might exist around our bus fleet but also the road design and engineering in Saddletowne Circle,” the mayor said at an unrelated event.

Police have said a northbound bus hit a vehicle, carried on through the intersection and struck a second vehicle before hitting another Calgary Transit bus, igniting that bus’s natural gas tanks. Only the second bus ran on compressed natural gas. The other was diesel.

The Calgary Fire Department and the Calgary Police Service told CBC News their investigations into the cause of the fire are in the early stages, and Transport Canada is assisting. Calgary Transit, which is already reviewing the safety of its natural gas buses, has said it will assess whether more safety measures are needed.

Experts who spoke to CBC said fires like this are rare. Josipa Petrunic, chief executive of the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium, said compressed natural gas buses are “generally considered very safe for operation in Canada” and go through strict testing.

Mike Mahar, head of Calgary’s transit union, told CTV News the driver of the natural gas bus is recovering at home, while the driver of the diesel bus remains in hospital. The union has offered members group counselling, and more than 60 people attended, he said.

Our earlier coverage of the fiery Saddle Ridge crash that killed three people has more on the collision.

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