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After Bus Fire, RideOn Buses Running On Holiday Schedule

County executive orders 26 buses to be removed from service

By: Elliott Francis // July 19, 2012
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Montgomery County has taken more than two dozen of its RideOn buses out of service due to ongoing problems with fire.
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Montgomery County has taken more than two dozen of its RideOn buses out of service due to ongoing problems with fire.

 

RideOn buses in Montgomery County are running on a modified schedule today because of another fire on a bus yesterday. The bus fire Wednesday in an out-of-service vehicle outside the Silver Spring Metro station was the second this month and the seventh in the last three years.

Shortly after the fire, County Executive Ike Leggett (D) ordered all buses manufactured with components from Thor Industries, Champion Bus and Navistar Industries removed from service. 

The county has been in the process of replacing the vehicles following the start of a federal investigation into the fires and a union grievance filed by drivers earlier this year. 

The county is working to find replacement buses in the interim, Leggett said in a statement, and he expects all will be replaced by the end of August. Because 26 buses have been removed from service, RideOn will operate on a modified holiday schedule today and Friday. 

 

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