Borough Transit bus 110 ended up in a ditch Thursday afternoon. Borough officials say they’re investigating the accident. (Leila Kheiry/KRBD)
A northbound public transit bus wound up in a ditch Thursday afternoon near Ketchikan’s Walmart store. Borough Transit Director Kyan Reeve says the Silver Line bus went off-road shortly after 2:30 p.m. and Ketchikan police responded. He says there were no reports of serious injuries.
“In speaking with KPD and initial discussions with the driver, it sounds like their tire got into a soft spot and pulled them down into the ditch,” Reeve said by phone Thursday afternoon.
Reeve says borough officials will be going back over video footage to see what happened inside the bus leading up to the crash as they investigate the cause.
“We have enhanced surveillance systems with HD recording on the buses. There’s 13 cameras throughout the bus, including footage on the driver,” he said.
Reeve says the accident left the bus’s main door blocked, and the driver and four passengers aboard had to escape via an emergency exit. He said incidents like this are very uncommon.
“Public transit is definitely a safe alternative for people for transportation and with professional drivers,” he said. “This is definitely something that doesn’t occur very often.”
Weather in the area was foggy with rain and temperatures around 40 at the time of the accident, according to the National Weather Service. Ketchikan’s Silver Line route runs between Mountain Point and Clover Pass.
