Sausalito Creates New Rules For Tour Buses

SAUSALITO (KCBS) — Residents of Sausalito are concerned that the influx of tour buses has created a safety issue and now the city is about to impose some new rules for popular tourist destination.

Not so long ago, there were just few buses that would drive into town on Alexander Avenue—a two lane road with a narrow shoulder and steep incline—but that number has grown to a few dozen each day.

Bill Haig, who has live in Sausalito for twenty years, said the buses can be an inconvenience.

"They slow down; these turns can be kind of tight to begin with and there is the noise on the loudspeakers in the open-end ones," he said.

In addition to the noise, Haig said that buses and bicyclists combine to create and unsafe situations.

"There are 10 year-old kids that are coming down here six inches from these buses and the cars. I mean the bikes, the buses and cars are all tough," Haig said.

The city is responding by only allowing the buses to travel northbound on Alexander Avenue and banning outside PA systems. Councilwoman Linda Pfeiffer said that safety is the primary reason because she said that "buses can't stop on a dime."

"If there is a problem and cyclist goes down, a bus can't stop as quickly as a car can," she said.

"We welcome visitors to Sausalito but we want them to be safe; we want them to have happy memories of our town. We don't want them to experience a tragedy here on the roads."

The new rules will go into effect July 10.