PHOENIX — An elected official is asking several departments within the City of Phoenix to track heat-related deaths after we found dozens of people have died at bus stops within a two-year timeframe.
The ABC15 Investigators looked into hundreds of death records from 2020 to 2022 to find where people are dying in the extreme heat as we could not find a government agency that’s tracking the exact details publicly.
One report highlighted how a man died at a bus stop in 2020 where his body temperature reached above 109º, according to records from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Councilwoman Laura Pastor released a statement Wednesday saying, “Any heat-related deaths are a concern for those who make up the Valley Metro Board of Directors. Each City has the responsibility to take the initiatives to address extreme heat.”
According to Maricopa County, 80% of heat deaths occurred outdoors with 228 of those deaths occurring in an “urban area,” but records do not indicate where outside.
ABC15 found at least 40 people have died at bus stops from heat and at least 48 others have died at benches, parking lots, or on sidewalks.
One report from August 2020 showed a man was transported to an emergency room with a temperature of 109.4º after being found at a bus stop in central Phoenix.
Councilwoman Pastor went on to say, “Valley Metro and the City of Phoenix work closely together to organize heat relief efforts to address the needs of our communities during this extreme heat, such as distributing water at light rail stops and using buses as cooling centers. As a Phoenix City Councilwoman, I would like to ask the City’s Office of Public Health to work alongside the Office of Heat Mitigation, Phoenix Fire and other departments to track these heat-related deaths.”
The councilwoman and several other elected officials serve on the Valley Metro Rail Board of Directors.
Tempe Vice Mayor Jennifer Adams is also on the board of directors.
In a statement, she wrote, “Valley Metro and the City of Tempe both have multi-faceted heat relief efforts to take care of our community experiencing this extreme heat. What happens across our shared transit system is a reflection of what’s happening across our broader community. At the City of Tempe, we offer a network of nine different cooling and hydration centers across the City, and heat mitigation will continue to be a significant priority for our community. At Valley Metro, our frontline teams will continue to serve as our eyes and ears, taking care of our passengers and prioritizing their health and safety as they observe any concerns in the field. Our bus stops are monitored by our transit and public safety staff and they will continue to be assessed during the summer months.”
ABC15 found that in addition to 40 people dying at bus stops from the heat, 19 others died at bus stops involving some sort of drugs, records show.
The city’s transportation department is not tracking deaths at bus stops, or those who have passed out from the heat.
A spokesperson for Valley Metro also tells ABC15 that they are not tracking the number of deaths at bus stops.
Valley Metro says its bus operators are trained to recognize the symptoms of heat-related illnesses and will stop to check on riders if someone appears in distress. Bus operators will also call dispatch or a supervisor to request police officers or firefighters to check on an individual, however, they do not have data on how many times this has happened.
Buses can be used as cooling centers too, they add.
However, a spokesperson said that all riders should have the expectation of having money to board the bus, but an operator may use their discretion to allow riders to board when there is extreme heat and an associated safety concern. “During the summer months, riders are allowed to stay on the bus in between trips and/or board early to find additional heat relief,” Valley Metro wrote in an email.
The city has a goal of adding shade structures to 80 bus stops each year through 2027 with 516 shelters already being added since 2017.
“The City prioritizes shelter/shade structures at bus stops that experience higher passenger ridership, so the percentile of riders being served is always higher than the percentile of bus stops shaded,” a spokesperson wrote in an email.
