Inquest closing remarks reveal rifts in how to make OC Transpo safer [Video]

• The inquest will resume on Monday, April 28, at 9:30 a.m. Stream it live here. 

Not everyone at the coroner’s inquest into the fatal OC Transpo bus crash of 2019 agrees on all of the ideas pitched for making bus riding in Ottawa safer, as the public deep dive’s closing remarks made clear on Friday. 

In particular, the issues of driver-facing cameras, reducing the speed limit for buses approaching Transitway stations, the decades-old procedure for scheduling OC Transpo bus drivers, and potentially allowing the city to intervene during the driver booking process if it has safety concerns, exposed the dividing lines in an inquest meant to prevent similar tragedies in the future. 

On Jan. 11, 2019, a packed double-decker bus slammed into a shelter canopy at Westboro station. Three passengers — Judy Booth, Bruce Thomlinson and Anja Van Beek — died in the crash, while many other riders were injured.

While the city accepted …