Using the Delphi method to evaluate opinions of public transport managers on bus safety

Because of the low percentage of crashes involving buses and the assumption that public transport improves road safety by reducing vehicular traffic, public interest in bus safety is not as great as that in the safety of other types of vehicles. The introduction of new technologies that can be easily and widely diffused in a bus market managed by a limited number of agencies and operators makes improvements in the safety of bus systems possible. Operations managers for Italian bus agencies were asked to give their opinions, using a questionnaire, on safety issues related to drivers, vehicles and roads in order to evaluate their knowledge and perceptions regarding safety issues and the potential effectiveness of various new technologies. A multi-round Delphi process was used to improve consensus among the participants, and Kendall's algorithm was used to evaluate the level of concordance. The results showed that the majority of the proposed items were considered to have great potential for improving bus safety. The final results of the investigation showed that start inhibition, automatic door opening, and the materials and internal architecture of buses were considered the items most strongly related to bus passenger safety. Brake assistance and vehicle monitoring systems were also considered to be very effective. Bus driver inattention and fatigue are considered to be the most common causes of road crashes. The data indicated that in the experience of the participants, passenger unloading and pedestrians crossing near bus stops are the most dangerous actions with respect to vulnerable users. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.