How driver training changed after the fatal Westboro bus crash [Video]

• Stream the inquest live here. 

The OC Transpo bus crash that left three people dead in 2019 isn’t mentioned during the transit agency’s training of new drivers, a witness told the ongoing coroner’s inquest into that tragedy.

But that fateful afternoon has become a demarcation line for how new recruits are taught the ropes.

The number of hours during OC Transpo’s new driving training has increased, and training hours are now mandated on each type of bus used in Ottawa, Lindsay Toll told the inquest on Monday.

Toll, section manager of training and development for the city’s transit services department, spoke during Day 9 of the public deep dive into the crash.

On Jan. 11, 2019, a packed OC Transpo double-decker slammed into a Transitway bus shelter at Westboro station. Three people — Judy Booth, Bruce Thomlinson and Anja Van Beek — died in the crash. Many others were injured, triggering a flurry of lawsuits.