Port Authority to settle lawsuit over death of Pitt student struck by bus
The Port Authority board is expected to approve a $500,000 settlement over the death of a University of Pittsburgh student who was struck and killed by a bus two years ago in Oakland.
The authority’s oversight committee recommended the settlement, and it is expected to be voted on at a meeting on Jan. 28, said spokesman Adam Brandolph.
Barbara Como, 20, was struck and killed by a bus traveling from the South Side to the Hill District at 12:09 p.m. on Jan. 18, 2020. She was a senior anthropology major.
Como, of Chester County, and another woman were crossing at the crosswalk when the bus, which was turning right onto DeSoto Street from Fifth Avenue struck her.
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• Pitt student killed by bus remembered as 'inquisitive, hard-working'
The driver, Shavonne James, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person last year and was ordered to serve three years probation.
James no longer works for Port Authority, Brandolph said.
Como’s mother, Nancy F. Como, filed a lawsuit against both James and Port Authority in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on Jan. 21, 2021. She alleged negligence after James stopped to pick up a patron running to the bus, and then allowed him to stand at the front of the bus in an unauthorized location blocking her view of the crosswalk.
The lawsuit also alleged that James failed to follow authority regulations.
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2020 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of "Death by Cyanide." She can be reached at pward@triblive.com.
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