Yosemite Buses Recieve Poor Results After Surprise Inspection
© C G-K via FlickrYosemite's tour buses bring approximately 250,000 visitors per year.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in conjunction with the California Highway Patrol, and the National Park Service held the surprise inspection Wednesday for all commercial for hire multiple passenger tour buses at Yosemite National Park. And the results were not good.
According to park officials, a high number of buses had safety issues, and two were immediately taken out of service. Officials are hoping the unannounced inspections will ensure visitor safety as well as reduce the chances of crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving tour buses.
There are five levels of inspections, including a vehicle component, a driver component, or a combination of both. A total of 24 buses were inspected in the park Wednesday. Of those, nine buses were found to be safe and were released with no citation. Fifteen buses were cited for unsafe operation and two were taken out of service. Inspections are to continue this week.
Who is the actual owner or operator of these buses? Does the park service own their own buses or do they contract out to a corporation? If so, which coporation?
Yosemite National Park replaced their diesel shuttle buses with 18 hybrid-electric buses in 2005. The park service is in charge of what projects are high priority and what funding should go to, so they are in charge of the shuttles. Federal stimulus money then goes to the buses and parts which were developed by Allison Transmission Inc., a General Motors company.