PTSB TO TAKE OVER TOR FIRE INVESTIGATION

   NYSDOT investigators could not find the cause of the fire that burned a TOR bus to the ground February 8th. So the investigation is now in the hands of the Public Transportation Safety Board. They will leave no stone unturned in their investigation. They are the state version of the NTSB that investigates plane crashes for the federal government. The investigation could take up to 6 months to complete. They will interview the driver, the mechanic and may try to locate the passengers that stated there was a bad odor inside the bus before the fire. Also the maintenance records will be scrutinized.
  This bus and all the TOR and TZXpress buses are insured by the carrier and not the County. This particular bus cost about $295,000 eight years ago. It has a life span of twelve years. The bus would have been retired in 4 years. The County also has what is called a straight line depreciation formula for the fleet to determine what each bus is worth at any given time. This bus goes down in value approximately $24,500 a year. The county would then expect to recoup about $49,000 from Brega Transport or Brega's insurance company. One small problem may occur though. Insurance companies do not usually use the straight line depreciation formula for determining the value for the bus. Most likely the bus will have a value below $49,000, that means Brega has to make up the difference, and if it true as stated in the bid documents, Brega Transport may have a $100,000 deductible for each occurrence meaning they pay for the bus.