CHP Shuts Down Airport Bus Line in Crackdown

The California Highway Patrol on Tuesday shut down a charter bus line that takes passengers to and from John Wayne Airport as part of a crackdown on shuttles that violate state safety codes, CHP officials said.

In shutting down the 18-bus service owned by Ground System Inc., the CHP and transportation officials said they are warning all private charter services to comply with safety codes, CHP spokesman Mel Baker said.

“Basically, what we’re doing here is that we’re putting them on notice that we are out there and we are enforcing traffic laws for the safety of the person being transported . . . or those on the roadway,” Baker said.

The state Public Utilities Commission, which licenses private shuttle services, suspended Ground System’s license on Tuesday after a monthlong investigation which began when authorities inspected the company’s buses in September, Baker said.

Baker said that he does not know what specific violations the company allegedly committed other than that “it did not meet CHP requirements that had to do with vehicle equipment and drivers’ logs requirements.”

A reinspection of the buses is scheduled for early this morning at the company’s facility in Placentia, Baker said. If the problems are not fixed, the PUC will permanently revoke the company’s license, he added.

On Aug. 2, a charter bus carrying Girl Scouts plunged off a winding Palms Springs road when its brakes apparently failed, killing seven people and injuring 53.

Also, the CHP in September arrested the owner of a Placentia tour bus company that allegedly shuttled more than 1,200 children around Southern California without a license and used fatigued drivers, at least one of whom had worked 29 straight hours.