Feds nix new bus company licenses after crash

DALLAS -- Federal authorities are trying to ensure that bus companies ordered to stop operating don't simply set up shop under a new name, as had allegedly happened in last week's bus crash in Texas that killed 17, officials said.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has stopped granting licenses nationwide for new bus companies as the agency tries to get its computer systems up to speed to cross-reference applicants properly, administrator John H. Hill said Tuesday.

"We're trying desperately to set up IT systems that alert us to critical things like addresses, phone numbers, names that sound similar," he said. "We've been testing it. We just haven't got it fully implemented yet."

Iguala BusMex Inc. was awaiting approval for a federal license when one of its buses crashed near Sherman on Friday. The company is run by Angel de la Torre, who also operates Angel Tours Inc., which was forced to take its vehicles out of interstate service June 23 after an unsatisfactory review by federal regulators.

The federal agency has come under fire for failing to see that Iguala BusMex was simply an offshoot of Angel Tours, with the same address and operator. Iguala BusMex had received a U.S. Department of Transportation number but had not been approved for operation at the time of the accident.

"What we're trying to do is respond to things that we're finding, and the thing we're finding is people are getting creative, so we need to be creative in finding solutions," Hill said, adding he did not anticipate the new license suspension to last for long.

On Sunday, Hill declared Angel Tours and Iguala BusMex an "imminent hazard to public safety." The rare order means both companies must immediately cease all operation.

The Sherman crash has affected him like few others, Hill said Tuesday.

"This was needless. This did not need to happen," he said. "It's a travesty. And we should allow for people like this to receive the full weight of the law."

The owner, de la Torre, did not immediately return a telephone message left on a bus company answering machine Tuesday evening.

The investigation continues into the Sherman bus crash, which killed 17 people on their way to a religious festival in Missouri on Friday. Six of the survivors, including the bus driver, remained in critical condition Tuesday.

Prosecutors said this week said they would consider bringing charges against the owner of the bus company if investigators find evidence of criminal activity.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)