The federal government issued a request for proposals this week for a study on using event data recorders – the equivalent of an airliner’s “black box” – in commercial buses like the one that collided with a Via Rail train in Barrhaven three years ago, killing six.

Liberal MP Chandra Arya said in Question Period Friday morning that transportation safety is key for his Nepean constituents and noted that after the crash the Transportation Safety Board recommended that all commercial passenger buses be equipped with “dedicated, crash-worthy, event data recorders.”

Minister of Transport Marc Garneau responded that “our thoughts are still with the victims and the families of the victims of this tragic accident.”

“The Transportation Safety Board investigated this accident and made a number of recommendations,” Garneau said. “We always value its recommendations. Earlier this week, the government put out an RFP for a feasibility study on the possible use of event data recorders on commercial buses.”

The bus driver and five passengers died on Sept. 18, 2013 when the double-decker bus collided with a passenger train where the Transitway crosses the tracks near Woodroffe Avenue. Nine other passengers were seriously hurt.

The TSB didn’t find a definitive reason for the crash, concluding factors including bus speed, braking technique, road configuration and driver distraction from a video monitor might have contributed.

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