The National Transportation Safety Board is denying accusations that it used faulty data to justify the shutting down of 26 Chinatown bus lines for safety violations, reports Bloomberg.
The study concluded that most Chinatown bus companies are seven times more likely to have passenger fatalities than traditional bus companies that use terminals.
The report is significant because the Chinatown companies and other curbside buses are popular with students and others looking for an inexpensive form of travel.
Aaron Brown, a risk manager trained in statistical math, has been highly critical of that study.
“They committed statistical malpractice by refusing to make the data available to the public and by presenting the ‘seven times’ figure without the gigantic qualification” that the margin of error could have eliminated the difference between the two carrier types.”
The study was also criticized for mis-classifying some bus companies such as Greyhound as curbside companies.
But the NTSB says even if you alter the calculations, the conclusions would be the same.
You can read more on this controversy in Bloomberg
