The Federal Transit Authority (FTA) has been making decisions for years about transit capacity using weight standards from 1962. The FTA is proposing to update the average American from 150 to 175 pounds to better reflect reality.
The change would mean fewer people allowed per bus, as standards would require more space for bigger waistlines.
From USA Today:""This change is really just a bow to reality," says Joseph Schwieterman, who studies bus ridership as director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University in Chicago. "With no small number of bus passengers tipping the scale at 200 pounds or more, this is much more realistic.""
Read the full story: Overweight Americans throwing off safety of city buses
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