Earlier this year, Jon Woodward and CTV News had an interesting piece on TransLink bus drivers running red lights and not having to pay traffic tickets for those infractions.

This has been an ongoing problem for many years, as evidenced by this Dec. 6, 2006, letter from the Vancouver Police Department (obtained by the CTF through a Freedom of Information request last week).

“Based on our observations and public complaints/comments, any failure to stop for traffic lights combined with the practice of honking the horn through yellow and red lights is dangerous,” wrote VPD traffic section officer-in-charge Andy Hobbs. “I would encourage your training to remind drivers that both lights actually require them to come to a stop. However, we recognize that if the driver is unable to safely stop for the yellow light, the sounding of the horn is a reasonable added safety measure.”

Six-and-a-half years later, and the lights were still being run.

Hobbs also notes speeding as an issue: "A variety of factors and pressures can cause some drivers to exceed the posted speed limit. While it may seem ovious, I believe that speeding is a significant contributing factor in collisions and I would appreciate your support by including the obvious, obeying speed limits, in your training. We have had a couple of recent examples where bus drivers have been stopped for (allegedly) going 90-100 kmh. This not only tends to diminish the professional image of bus drivers but it is also an unacceptable safety risk to the public."