"The Toronto Transit Commission says an incident involving a TTC driver who abandoned his bus and left passengers stranded for 30 minutes Tuesday is “unacceptable,” while the head of the transit workers union said it was an “insignificant” incident.
A TTC rider on the abandoned bus posted a video of the incident to YouTube Tuesday. Passenger Victor Bulario said the driver of the bus stopped at Eglinton Avenue West and Trethewey Drive and left the vehicle without making any announcement to his passengers. According to Mr. Bulario the bus was left unattended with the doors open for more than 30 minutes.
“We’re taking this matter very seriously. We can’t have buses left unattended with customers on board,” said TTC spokesman Brad Ross on Wednesday. “It is unacceptable in general terms.”
Mr. Ross said he saw the video on Tuesday and that TTC officials are reviewing the matterTTC policy requires bus operators to remain with their vehicle until a relief operator meets them, he said. Operators switch over at set “relief points” on routes when they are going on break or ending a shift.
“If that operator is late, or doesn’t show up for whatever reason, the operator who has control of the bus is to wait until that relief operator does arrive,” Mr. Ross said.
Drivers are allowed to leave their vehicle unattended and safely secured when they need to use the bathroom or get a coffee, he said. The TTC asks drivers to tell the customers the reason for the stop, he added.
NP/FilesTTC Union President Bob Kinnear
“The difference here is that the bus driver was being relieved — if the commentary on the video is accurate — and [the bus] was left sitting for some period of time. That is what is concerning to us,” he said.
TTC Union President Bob Kinnear said the incident is being blown out of proportion.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” he said. “We do this [driver relief] thousands upon thousands of times a week without any problems.”
Mr. Kinnear said the TTC union apologizes to passengers who were inconvenienced but said there are bigger problems Torontonians should be concerned about.
“It just amazes me that people get bogged down on these little insignificant incidents rather than focusing on what’s really happening in this continuing deterioration of our system,” he said. “The people are frustrated with the TTC. They’re frustrated with inadequate service, overcrowding… Those things are the direct result of upper levels of government not funding it appropriately.”
Mr. Kinnear said he spoke with a work representative of the driver in question and said there was “miscommunication” about who was taking over the vehicle. A relief operator was on site but for some reason they did not take over the bus, he said.
Mr. Ross would not speculate on what the repercussions might be."
DEFENSIVE is one word that comes to mind reading this article. Overall, it's just never acceptable to respond to a complaint dismissing a very valid concern of the safety and service provided by your organization. This also speaks to the conduct of ttc drivers, even if they were relieved and are off the clock, there should still be some sense of responsibility toward the passengers who were left stranded. The driver could have communicated this snafu to their supervisor so at least someone could resolve this matter quickly instead of just walking-off. So why didn't he? This is also an ongoing problem, that TTC service providers are not committed to the public. Yes, they undergo a lot of abuse and stress from the job but it is still not a reason to be unpleasant to the general public.
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