Nearly 200 transit bus crashes this year in Mississauga; more than 400 in Brampton
Published September 5, 2024 at 1:36 pm
MiWay transit buses have been involved in nearly 200 crashes so far this year as they deliver passengers to their destinations via some 65 routes across Mississauga.
Numbers provided to INsauga.com by MiWay, which has a fleet of some 500 buses and is Ontario’s third-largest municipal transit service provider, show Mississauga transit buses have been involved in 186 collisions to date in 2024 (as of July 31).
City of Mississauga spokesperson Irene McCutcheon said in an email to INsauga.com the collision rate involving MiWay buses this year is 1.01 crashes per 100,000 kilometres travelled.
She added that represents a decrease from the past two years — 415 collisions in 2023 (1.29 collisions per 100,000 km) and 399 collisions in 2022 (1.23 collisions per 100,000 km).
“MiWay’s prioritization of employee and customer safety is a driving force behind the downward trend of collisions in 2024,” said McCutcheon, adding more than half of the collisions were caused by other motorists.
“Each MiWay vehicle adheres to strict maintenance and safety protocols and regulations and our operators are held to the highest standards of safety in accordance with MTO (Ontario transportation ministry) protocols and training.”
Videos
This car collided with a MiWay bus on July 9, 2024.
By comparison, Brampton Transit collision numbers are greater than MiWay’s and are on the rise the past few years.
Numbers provided by that transit service show there have been 411 crashes involving Brampton buses so far this year (as of Aug. 14), with a collision rate of 2.37 crashes per 100,000 kilometres travelled.
In 2023, there were 617 collisions involving Brampton Transit buses (2.15 collisions per 100,000 km travelled) and in 2022 the numbers were 586 collisions (2.15 collisions per 100,000 km travelled).
City of Brampton spokesperson Cyrille McGregor said in an email to INsauga.com “the number of collisions in the data is a result of the increase in traffic in the city and the increase in (Brampton Transit) service levels, which have increased by 20 per cent between 2022 and 2024.”
McGregor added that more than half of the collisions involving Brampton buses were caused by other drivers.
Brampton Transit operates a fleet of 473 buses that cover 70 routes across the city.
While many collisions involving MiWay buses in Mississauga are relatively minor, some are more serious.
In early January, a dozen people (10 of them bus passengers) were sent to hospital when a MiWay bus travelling southbound on Highway 27 in Toronto struck a northbound SUV and then crashed into a ditch.
The collision took place just east of the Mississauga border on a stretch of highway regularly travelled by MiWay buses heading to and from destinations including Humber College and the Kipling bus/train station in west Toronto.
In June 2023, Sharron Williams, 50, was killed not long after leaving her Mississauga home for work when her car was rear-ended by a MiWay bus at Derry and Rexwood roads in Malton.
The crash was captured on a dashcam video widely circulated online at the time that showed the bus plowing into the back of Williams’ vehicle.
The driver of the transit bus was charged last October with dangerous operation causing death in connection with the June 2023 crash. Her case remains before the courts.
INsauga's Editorial Standards and Policies