You wonder how a "good company" could even have a bus sitting around in this kind of condition? --SRS


Kids took field trip on crumbling bus
Everett first-grader's mother alerts safety officials

By David Chircop, Herald Writer link

State authorities are investigating after a local charter company shuttled Lowell Elementary School first-graders in a bus the company's owner agreed doesn't belong on the road. Lynnwood-based Journey Lines Inc. has taken the bus out of service, pending an inspection by the state, owner Steve Abegg said earlier this week.

The bus shouldn't have been on the road, but its problems were largely cosmetic, he said. "We tried to give good customer service, but it turns out we gave lousy service here," he said.

Officials were alerted by Karen Stalberger of Everett. She photographed what she believed were safety problems while accompanying her 7-year-old son's class on a field trip to view a kangaroo farm near Arlington. Stalberger said the trip began with the driver starting the bus by raising a panel and touching wires together. She photographed exposed wires, an unfastened floor panel, window trim with missing screws, a broken taillight and a black mildewlike substance on the ceiling. She sent the images to school and state officials. The state Utilities and Transportation Commission began an investigation.

Abegg said he is taking the situation seriously, and has taken the 1985 Eagle out of commission.

Stalberger said there was much about the bus that concerned her. Heavy, metal items weren't bolted down, and the students were exposed to fumes, she said. During the trip, an unbolted floor panel at the rear of the bus flew up, revealing the engine and transmission. "You heard the air and you could smell the fumes. It was like having your window open driving down the road," Stalberger said. A father on the bus held the panel down with his feet, she said.

Abegg said he doesn't believe the situation was unsafe. He acknowledged a child could have touched the engine. "All (the father) had to do was push his foot down to keep the panel in place," he said. "It sounds treacherous, like it's the opening of a big monster, but it's just an opening that you can see through."

Journey Lines was hired for the field trip by Durham School Services, the Everett School District's official carrier. Durham said it won't send the Lynnwood carrier more work until the school district gives it the green light.

The school district pays Durham about $5 million a year for bus services. State law requires fewer inspections and allows lower standards for the carrier Durham hired for the field trip than it does for most school bus lines. School buses are inspected twice annually by the Washington State Patrol. Buses belonging to charter companies, such as Journey Lines, are inspected every 18 months.

Allan Jones, director of pupil transportation for the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, said Durham is permitted to hire charter services, provided the companies maintain a satisfactory safety rating. Journey Lines Inc. has a satisfactory rating, according to officials at the state Utilities and Transportation Commission. It also has been fined for safety violations, records show.

In 1992, the company was fined after an accident on a school-sponsored ski trip that sent a Marysville woman to the hospital with a concussion and caused a middle school student to fly through a pop-out window, records show. The state found that the bus's brakes had failed before it left the road and flipped on its side.

In 2002, shortly after Abegg bought the company, the state warned that Journey Lines lacked adequate safety procedures and was in jeopardy of losing state certification. The company was cited for failing to maintain driving and repair records.

An April 2004 inspection of nine buses found six with safety violations. The state sidelined two buses: one for an emergency exit that didn't work, and the other for a loose U-shaped bolt securing the vehicle's axle. Other violations included broken overhead lights, a broken seat, a broken backup light and two unsecured fire extinguishers.

The most recent safety report, from April, found a single violation for failing to keep a maintenance file on one bus. The bus that carried Lowell Elementary students was not among those inspected. Abegg said he regrets that the bus was sent out. He described himself as a small businessman working hard to upgrade his 12-bus fleet.

The incident with Lowell Elementary School students was not reflective of his company, he said. Terrie DeBolt, Everett School District's transportation supervisor, vouched for the company. "I believe this is a real rarity for Journey Lines," she said. "It was just a bad call on their part to let the bus go. Somebody just made a really bad choice."