Quick Take:
Dan Stevenson, the bus driver who was behind the wheel of a bus that crashed on UCSC’s campus on Dec. 12, has died from his injuries. The school’s investigation into the cause of the accident is still ongoing.
A longtime public transit driver who was behind the wheel of a bus that crashed on UC Santa Cruz’s campus earlier this month has died from his injuries.
Dan Stevenson drove for Santa Cruz Metro and UCSC’s campus bus service for 25 years. In an emailed statement, Chancellor Cynthia Larive and Campus Provost Lori Kletzer said that Stevenson was a valued employee, and that he “was well respected by his colleagues and will be deeply missed by so many.”
In a Facebook post, the union representing Santa Cruz Metro drivers, SMART Local 0023, called Stevenson a “genuinely kind-hearted person dedicated to serving his community.” It added that he played a big role in the union’s 37-day strike in 2005.
Shortly after 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 12, a campus bus drove off the road and collided with a lime kiln near the base of the school and the Cowell Ranch Hay Barn, in the area of Coolidge Drive near High Street.
earlier this month
While UCSC said Stevenson died on Friday, Dec. 29, the union said he died on Thursday. The statement from UCSC administrators did not provide an update on the condition of the five students also injured in the crash. Earlier this month, the school said four of the victims sustained minor-to-moderate injuries while one sustained serious injuries. Three were treated and released from Dominican Hospital, a hospital spokesperson said previously.
After the incident, the university pulled its 16 other 35-foot buses, similar to the one that crashed, from the road for inspection. On Dec. 26, university spokesperson Scott Hernandez-Jason said the cause of the crash remained under investigation but declined to share more information. He said the campus was still inspecting the vehicles.
Stevenson appeared to be active in advocating for transit drivers and riders. He spoke publicly about the region’s transit service, including at a 2016 rally in downtown Santa Cruz protesting planned cuts to Metro funding. In 2005, he invited members of Metro’s board to ride his bus during labor negotiations over proposed changes to policies surrounding unpaid leaves of absence.
“Mr. Stevenson invited the Board to ride his bus and he spoke in favor of General Leave,” board minutes from a Sept. 23, 2005 meeting show, “explaining that he utilizes that time to rebolster his health, kick his caffeine addiction, get away from cigarette smoke and may use the time to look for a different job.”
In an opinion piece in the Santa Cruz Sentinel in 2018 supporting a rent control measure that was rejected later that year by voters, Stevenson wrote about how many hours he had to spend driving to make ends meet and his struggles to afford to rent in Santa Cruz County before he became a homeowner.
“Some guys have been working like that for decades and still can’t afford to raise a family,” he wrote. “A big part of the reason is the comically high rents.”
He also described the affordability challenges facing those he saw riding his bus every day, particularly unhoused passengers.
“Every day I see homeless people who can’t find housing because they are only given so many days to find a place and it just is not available at the prices they need,” he wrote. “So they are back out on the streets or stuck in temporary shelters. And then folks call the police on them because they are loitering or sleeping illegally.”
He added: “Just today, I ran across a homeless man with a walker and visual impairments. He has had two strokes. He rides my bus, but today I saw him on my day off, standing outside Wild Roots grocery store in Felton. I have seen him there before. The last time he almost capsized off the edge of the curb while trying to leave after being kicked off the property. This man is a sweet older man who is quietly desperate and stands outside the store with nowhere to go. He started crying when I asked him if he had any place to go.”