MTA officials said the accident briefly disrupted service while buses were rerouted on city streets, putting the schedule behind by eight to 10 minutes for several hours.
The first crash occurred about three hours earlier, at the crossing at Corbin Avenue, which also intersects Topham Street nearby at an acute angle. Two people -- the motorist and a fare inspector on the bus -- were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, police said.
Witnesses told police that the motorist, a 65-year-old woman, was making a right turn through a red light, an action that is no longer allowed at many of the busway's intersections. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the woman and the bus driver both told officers that they had a green light.
The Orange Line's east-west route from the Red Line subway station in North Hollywood to Warner Center in Woodland Hills intersects with streets at 36 points. The full run has been taking about 40 minutes, with the buses making 13 stops.
Even before Wednesday's collisions, so many motorists had complained about the crossings that a safety task force had been convened by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The mayor, who is also chairman of the MTA, took that step shortly after a bus he was riding last week on a demonstration run narrowly escaped being in an accident. The task force, made up of officials from the MTA, local law enforcement agencies and city traffic engineers, met for the first time Wednesday, just hours before the accidents occurred, but did not reach any decisions.
Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, chairwoman of the city's Transportation Committee, called an emergency meeting for today with the MTA, city traffic engineers, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the Los Angeles Police Department.
"We want to assure the public that we're doing everything we can about safety," Greuel said.
At the time of the Valley Glen collision, authorities said, the bus was traveling between 25 and 30 mph. The speed was in accordance with MTA policy in place until Wednesday afternoon, requiring Orange Line drivers to "cover their brakes" with their foot while passing through intersections. The posted speed limit at the intersection is 35 mph for buses and cars.
The decision to immediately require the drivers to slow to 10 mph at intersections was made while MTA officials were en route to that accident. Shortly after the first accident, county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a busway advocate, had called for the speed reduction.
