Pitt students feel sadness, fear in wake of bus fatality

In the wake of Saturday’s accident in which a University of Pittsburgh senior was struck and killed by a Port Authority bus in Oakland, students want to know how it happened and how to prevent it from happening again.

Barbara Como, 20, of Chester County, was planning to graduate this spring with degrees in psychology and anthropology. She died after being taken to UPMC Presbyterian hospital following the early afternoon collision at De Soto Street and Fifth Avenue.

Many Pitt students routinely get on and off PAT buses in that area along Fifth Avenue, which runs through the heart of the urban campus.

“I think it’s just kind of scary because it could have happened to anyone,” said Danielle Infantolino, 18, an emergency medicine major from Caldwell, N.J. “No one really knows if she just wasn’t careful or the bus driver wasn’t really paying attention.”

On a frigid Monday morning, Infantolino stood with a group of fellow freshmen in front of their Litchfield Towers dormitory waiting for a bus at the corner of Fifth and Thackeray Avenues. They expressed concerns about a lack of information about the accident, which is being investigated by Pittsburgh police, Pitt’s campus police and the Port Authority.

“It’s really sad. It could have been anybody, but we don’t know what happened” said Olivia Wagner, 18, a marketing major from Hershey.

Tanner Kennedy, 19, a nursing major from Hershey, said a lot of students still aren’t aware of the incident.

“I wish that Pitt would have actually sent an email out because I feel like a lot of kids still don’t know about it,” said Kennedy. “We were at the basketball game when it happened. We didn’t realize until someone that we’re close to saw it and told us. But I was talking to other (students) who still don’t really know about it.

“I feel like a lot of kids jaywalk and I think that it should be looked at further because a lot of kids see the cars coming but they don’t look for the buses because the buses just come out of nowhere. You never really see them.”

Pitt spokesman Kevin Zwick said an email was sent to students of Lothrop Hall, where Como lived. Additionally, “a message was shared broadly via social media,” he said.

We are saddened to learn of the death of one of our Pitt students, counseling resources are available to you, please see a message from Dean Bonner here: https://t.co/6wiQOXpfir

— Pitt Student Affairs (@PittStudents) January 18, 2020

Zach Rulli, 20, a civil engineering major from Greensburg, said he was surprised when he heard about the incident.

“I’m honestly wondering how that could happen,” said Rulli. “Students should be aware of the dangers of crossing Fifth. Fifth is a very busy street. Maybe students should be warned of the dangers more often.”

Between the buses and automobiles, traffic in Oakland is generally considered to be pretty heavy during all parts of the day. Emmanuella Iwere, a senior from Nigeria who is majoring in chemical engineering, said the traffic flow makes her feel unsafe.

“It kind of makes me feel like I have to watch twice,” said Iwere, 21. “I almost got hit by a car when I was walking out of the Hillman Library where the bus stop is. There was this really fast car, the traffic light (had already turned red) but he just kept going and he almost hit me.”

There was no shortage of ideas among the students about how to improve safety for pedestrians and those who take buses to and from the Pitt campus, including having the buses go in the same direction along Fifth Avenue. Bus traffic coming from Downtown uses a reserved, single lane on Fifth Avenue through Oakland. Buses and cars traveling through Oakland toward Downtown share three lanes.

“It’s kind of odd how the buses go in the opposite direction (of the cars),” said Garret Clauser, a 19-year-old sophomore from Bethlehem, describing the bus-only lane. “I do like how they have guardrails and stuff but it’s still a complicated situation. There is so much traffic going on and a lot of kids try to cross the street (against) the lights.”

“I think the buses at the stoplights, sometimes they’ll just go. I’ve been crossing where the light turns green and the buses don’t really notice me for a second and they’ll go,” said Infantolino. “I think maybe they could take a second when the light turns green and make sure the coast is completely clear before they go.”

Meanwhile, across Fifth Avenue, Linda Rainey, a 71-year-old retiree who lives in the Hill District, was waiting for a bus headed south. She said more could be done to protect the students, such as building enclosed walkways similar to the ones on the Duquesne campus.

“It’s dangerous down here, with the buses going one way and the bikers, you really have to watch what you’re doing,” said Rainey. “And, then, a lot of people don’t cross where they’re supposed to cross. And you have all kinds of construction and machinery and delivery trucks. It’s a lot of distractions down here.”