Mobility Device Information

We've received some questions from riders on our electronic mobility device securement system on our new electric buses.

What Happens if There's No Power on the Bus?

All bus accessibility features (on both electric and diesel vehicles) are manually released by the driver in the event of a power or system failure.

Drivers are trained for when this might happen.

In the event of a bus power issue, a driver will manually release the Qstraint Quantum automatic securement system.

Though they are trained to handle these situations, there are a number of safeguards in place where a bus power issue is unlikely. 

Those include:

• The bus will completely stop moving before even losing power. Monitoring systems and alarms are set up to alert the driver to pull over to a safe location before this happens.
• Power use is also monitored by staff at Metro's maintenance facility. The bus will automatically send alerts to a maintenance supervisor when a bus charge starts to get low. This allows the situation to be handled ahead of time.

Evacuation procedures, system overrides, and manual deployments are the same as Metro's standard diesel fleet. 

These are not new issues for Metro drivers, and they all receive training on how to handle these types of situations.

Other Questions?

If you have any other questions on Metro's new automatic wheelchair securement system, email mymetrobus@cityofmadison.com.