Adam Tuss, wtop.com

WASHINGTON — Are people who hop on discount bus carriers rolling the dice when it comes to safety? Not if they board the bus at the right spot, says a high-ranking local official.

D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton was on hand Tuesday to welcome discount carrier Megabus into what has become a bustling bus depot in back of Union Station. Bolt Bus, Washington Deluxe and DC2NY are some of the other low-cost carriers that are also now consolidated in the bus center.

Norton says if you are thinking about taking a low-cost bus, this bus center is the place to pick it up.

“Low-cost carriers that insist upon picking people up at the curbside are the ones that are involved in the most accidents,” said Norton. “The carriers here are providing, we think, the safest form of transportation in the United States.”

In the wake of the deadly Sky Express crash in Virginia and other incidents, a spotlight has been directed on low-cost bus companies when it comes to safety.

“We want (these buses) off of our streets because they bring with them not only more accidents, but they pollute the street corners,” Norton said. “This (bus depot) is the proper place to catch a bus, especially in the Nation’s Capital.”

The congresswoman has been a driving force behind setting up the expanding Union Station bus depot.

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