San Diego Metropolitan Transit System bus operations were honored Monday with the top safety award from the American Public Transportation Association for a comprehensive pedestrian-safety program.

The “Pause, Focus, Look” campaign reduced preventable, pedestrian-related bus accidents to zero in the last nine months of 2016. The award was announced at APTA’s annual bus conference in Reno.

“Being recognized with awards is nice. But results are even better,” said Paul Jablonski, MTS chief executive officer. “Eliminating pedestrian-related accidents is an exceptional success.”

“MTS bus operators should be proud of this accomplishment, as should our training department,” he added. “They identified the challenges, developed a thorough training program, worked with union leadership and educated all 544 of our drivers. It’s this type of effort that led to this outstanding result.”

The campaign involved 285 buses and more than 750 employees. Among the highlights were a “no left on red” policy for one-way streets, new side mirrors, changes to interior lighting to improve visibility, and additional training for drivers.

>> Subscribe to Times of San Diego’s free daily email newsletter! Click here