Houston City Worker Crushed and Killed by METRO Bus

HOUSTON – A city of Houston employee was run over and killed by a METRO bus Friday morning in downtown Houston.

Damilola Matuluko, who was a City of Houston human resources employee on her way to work, was walking south on Smith Street just after 7:30 a.m.

Investigators say the pedestrian signal gave her the green light to walk, but once she was in the crosswalk, a METRO bus also heading south on Smith turned left at the green light onto Rusk Street, running over the woman and killing her.

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“The video we have been able to view so far indicates that the pedestrian was in the crosswalk. The pedestrian had a walk signal, so it appears that it was legal to cross the street at that time.” , explains Lieutenant Tim McClelland of METRO. Police.

Lt. McClelland says at this point it appears the driver should have yielded the right of way to Matuluko and waited for her to cross the road. I’m told that every time something like this happens, the driver is immediately drug and alcohol tested to check for possible impairment.

Investigators from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office were also on hand to determine whether the bus driver would be charged.

The driver is a contract employee who works for a company called Transdev Mobility. The driver is not a Houston METRO employee.

METRO has operating facilities throughout the Houston area. One site is operated by contract company TransDev and all bus drivers at this facility are contract drivers.

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The number of contract workers varies each week, but METRO currently has 432 contract bus drivers.

Transdev has reportedly placed the bus driver involved in the fatal accident on administrative leave pending the conclusion of the investigation.

The woman just started working in the city of Houston’s human resources department in December.

City of Houston Human Resources Director Jane Cheeks issued this statement:

Damilola Matuluko joined the City of Houston HR Operations Employee Relations team in December 2023, supporting the Houston Department of Public Works. Although Damilola had only been in the HR department for a short time, she had become a valued and influential member of the team. She will be sincerely missed by her colleagues in the City of Houston.