A Tucson bicyclist stopped the streetcar in its tracks last month while he notified police of a near-miss accident.
Bicyclist Paul Thomas, 45, was riding westbound on University Boulevard around noon on Aug. 15 when the streetcar raced past, within inches of him.
“I was riding exactly where you’re supposed to ride the bike and this guy just goes blowing by,” said Thomas, who rides 15,000 miles a year and won his division in last year’s Arizona State Road Race Championships.
“Had that been your standard Suzie Sorority with a Starbucks in one hand and a cellphone texting in the other, they would have went down.”
Sun Tran policy dictates a streetcar driver can’t pass if it’s within 3 feet of a bicyclist.
After the near-miss, Thomas chased down the offending driver near Fourth Avenue and blocked the streetcar by standing in front of it while he called the police and waited for them to arrive.
“I’m no activist. But there was no way I was going to let this thing go,” he said.
Thomas said the streetcar line was poorly planned, and is a “disaster waiting to happen.” He said he felt he had to take a stand that day in hopes it could prevent a future accident.
The responding police officer didn’t ticket the driver because traffic laws requiring drivers to give bikes 3 feet of clearance when passing don’t apply to trains that are confined to fixed rails.
The streetcar was blocked for approximately 10 minutes. No information was available for how many passengers were stuck on the train during the delay.
The 3-foot rule the driver violated is a Sun Tran policy implemented to prevent accidents. Both the officer and a Sun Link supervisor, who was also on the scene, told Thomas nobody got hurt and he should get on with his day, Thomas said.
Even though no citations were issued to anyone, Sun Tran suspended the driver for three days for violating policy, said Tucson Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Graham.
The driver no longer works for Sun Tran, but his separation from the company wasn’t related to the Aug. 15 incident, Graham said.
The incident highlights the tension between bicyclists and the streetcar.
Thomas said he wasn’t a disgruntled cyclist lashing out at the city, but believes the city could have done a better job designing the route to make it safer.
Streetcar project manager Shellie Ginn said the city has worked with bicyclists since the early stages of streetcar planning through today. She said the city continues to monitor the route, and will make changes if necessary.
“If there’s an area that looks like it’s creating problems, then we’re evaluating that, and we will have made changes,” Ginn said.
The changes so far have been mostly recalibrating traffic lights, such as at East Toole Avenue and Congress Street, to unclog congestion.
As of now, the city isn’t planning on removing cars or bikes from any part of the streetcar route, Ginn said.
“It’s going to have to be how each of them can use it as safely as possible,” she said.
While streetcar drivers are expected to meet 10-minute headways, Ginn said safety trumps routed times.
She said the suspension and subsequent driver training after Thomas’ incident highlight how serious Sun Link is about safety.
As for Thomas, while he was pleased with Sun Link’s response to the incident, he hopes his story would serve as a wake-up call that could make the system safer for bicyclists, motorists and the streetcar.
