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Credit goes to the increasingly excellent local blog Unsuck DC Metro for the news that a Metrobus operator will soon be fired for talking on a cell phone while driving a bus.
The web site posted a photo it obtained from a former Red Line rider named Brian who had, ironically enough, recently switched to riding a 63 bus from Takoma to work in the morning, just as WMATA this week urged customers to consider. Here's what Brian told Unsuck DC Metro:
When we got to the stop just outside of the Petworth Metro station, our driver got out of the bus and started talking on her cell phone. One minute goes by, 2 minutes, 3 minutes ... and she's still talking on her phone. Passengers start getting very angry. One, in particular, steps outside and yells at the driver to get moving. Yet another minute goes by before the driver bothers to get back on the bus. And she's still talking on the phone.
If I were smarter (and more awake), I would have caught this moment on video, but she sat down and pulled out into traffic with phone to ear, and drove several hundred feet before ending her call. I got a crappy picture with my cell phone. It was the best I could get from my vantage point. If you zoom in on the driver, you can see her holding up a phone to her ear with one hand and pulling out into traffic with the other. I contacted WMATA customer service via email between 8 and 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, and I still haven't heard back from them.
The story has since been picked up by WTOP and FOX 5, and Metro General Manager John Catoe today stated on WTOP radio that the driver will be identified and that Metro will take appropriate action, which "is termination."
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That's an astounding level of stupidity by the Metro bus driver. With all the attention surrounding passengers taking pictures of bus and train drivers driving and reading, talking on cell phones, working on their crystal meth labs, you'd think all Metro drivers would be on notice that these might not be the best days to be talking on their cell while driving. This driver deserves a genius award for her actions.
And I'm surprised her union chief hasn't come out and argued that it was no big deal since all the passengers got to their destinations alive.
I'm suprised you actually used "stupidity" and "Metro" in the same sentence. I believe that's a first.
Metro bus drivers, cops, whomever ... everyone keeps doing what they do til they get caught. Did I read somewhere that cameras will be installed on trains and buses or is that New York City?
Many of them already have cameras.
Anyone know what the usual turnaround time is for Metro to respond to customer complaints? I sent them an e-mail last week about a bus driver on the 43 blowing past a stop and declaring, after someone pulled the cable, "this is the 43 not the 42, the bus does not stop here" (Connecticut Ave and R, which is on the 43 route). Took metro a few days, but they finally got back to me on Tuesday and said they would talk to the driver.
Connecticut and R isn't a 43 stop.
Yes, it is. Connecticut and Q is not. But every other time I've ridden the 43 it stops at R Street before going under Dupont Circle. It's listed as a stop on NextBus, and Metro's replay to my e-mail said they agreed.
I should clarify. Southbound it stops at R Street. But not northbound.
I try to be as pro-labor as humanly possible, but that stupid b had to go.
It's just a matter of time before a bus driver or train operator gets caught sexting.
or masturbating.
Rollover minutes are a bitch.
Anyone else notice the ads posted all over the inside of that bus? Particularly the one right behind the driver...you know, in case you're wondering what the scene looks like from the front.
that's some juicy metrobus irony right there, folks...
Anyone ever hear of the Bus Roadeo? It's a competition among mass transit at the National Public Trans Assn meeting. DC Metro ranked last, least, loser in it's class every single year.
Also, customers are better cameras than institutional ones. Ones installed by metro are then reviewed by metro... and really, that's having the fox watch the henhouse. We don't need big brother. We are becoming our own big brother.
Yeah, that thing is awesome. Too bad they don't have a subway train-driving equivalent.
Is this televised?? If so, please send details. Sounds awesome.
Is there some sort of bus-demolition derby at the end? Maybe bus racing where you're allowed to just smash into the other buses?? I think DC might do considerably better in these categories.
If they don't have these categories, clearly the entire thing is just set up to try and make DC look bad.
This topic isn't ad nauseam yet? Really? Is the only difference between these drivers and cab drivers is that our tax dollars don't translate into cab salaries? There are other government drivers that err on the side of ludicrous that we're forgetting about. If a DCGypsyCarpetRide Cab Co. cab pulls into traffic with phone in hand, would everyone whip their iDrones out to photodocument? No, as we would chalk that one up to "Well, all cabbies are nuts and it's not like my tax dollars go to him". We wouldn't even go so far as to call the company to complain. We would/should simply vote with our dollars and grab a different branded cab next time.
So, if these WMATA drivers aren't cutting it for you for whatever reason, then it's time to dust off those walking shoes/bicycle. Stop trying to get these people fired just because you feel like your own pink slip could be coming any day now.
This is a dumb comparison. Taxis are a private service. The bus is a public service -- so yes, my tax dollars DO pay for it. And no one's trying to get anyone fired. We'd just like to ride the bus without the risk of a distracted driver whacking into a telephone pole.
I also wouldn't mind a little more transparency from Metro employees about how this stuff works. Maybe this driver was, in fact, supposed to be allowed a brief break at the end of her route before turning back around and going the other way. Maybe passengers shouldn't have been yelling at her and intimidating her into getting back in the driver's seat before that break was over. But we for some reason aren't allowed to know that, so we just have to sit there on a stopped bus wondering when the driver's going to show up/get relieved by new driver/finish her phone call.
A bus driver stepping out to do something he or she isn't allowed to do while driving (take a phone call) has never been a problem for me, be it that he or she was on break or not. It's the BUS. We pay an extremely subsidized fare to get across town to use it and other mass transit. So, I don't expect it to be the well oiled machine YOU want it to be.
Anyone who was mad at this driver for taking a time out on the sidewalk is the same kind of person who would be mad at traffic, i.e. someone who didn't leave enough time to get to their destination OR a generally impatient person.
I don't think I'd have to try very hard to make the comparison between these types of people and the ones who want to play thesmokinggun.com reporter/newb and play "gotcha!" with these WMATA people.
I see your point...but that argument seems similar to the one someone made here after the 6/22 crash, which is "why don't we go that nuts when people die on the highways everyday?"
my answer is the same i gave to that commenter: cabs carry 1-5 people and are just cars. a bus is enormous, carries several people at once, and could cause way more damage if involved in an accident.
i agree that cabbies are notorious for being unsafe. but let's be realistic here...when you're a bus driver transporting that many people at once in a vehicle that large, and (yes) being paid by tax dollars, you're going to be held to a higher standard. as you should be. operating a cab and operating a bus are not the same thing.
Sorry, but an accident is an accident with the same implications and consequences. It's news because we chose for it to be newsworthy. In this case, it's newsworthy because your tax pennies shouldn't be supporting such errant behavior.
I know you're not trying to marginalize an accident involving, for example, a 14-seater private day care center van full of children with a private day care employee as driver who pulled into traffic with phone in hand, but by saying a bus accident is a bigger deal because it's a bigger vehicle is wrong. (BTW, on a good day, some buses in some areas only have like less than 10 people riding anyway)
Which is why WMATA bus fails are nowhere near as tragic as school bus fails. It's a public service AND it's got kids.
I totally agree with you. In actuality, our money doesn't directly or indirectly pay Metro employees salaries, which seems to be the common misconception amongst most the comments I see posted here. If people knew that, then maybe they wouldn't feel so high and mighty, willing to get someone fired. What these ignorant people don't realize it that they are ruining peoples lives, especially the shape the economy is in now. It's extremely hard to take care of your family with no money. And you're absolutely right about no one reporting any other agency of commercial licensed drivers. And you rarely here of accidents regarding the drivers from use of cell phones. It is because the ignorant people driving in the cars take it upon themselves to do the dumbest things while driving. Such as turning right in front of a bus servicing a stop. Accident waiting to happen. Or drivers cutting off the bus. I dont see anyone taking pictures of drivers in cars who are endangering the lives of everyone on the road by talking on cell phones and far more inexcusable activities. So please everyone, layoff the power trip that you all seek. Its not worth ruining another life because you wouldn't appreciate someone targeting you or your financial stability.
But what would have happened if she had finished the call and then gotten back on the bus? Shouldn't she be disciplined for that too? The people on the bus shouldn't have to wait while she takes a call.
Question: If a bus driver can be fired for talking on a cell phone, can a truck driver be fired from their job for talking on a cell phone? It doesn't matter to me if one is toting around passengers or produce. It's the impact of the vehicle that's deadly not the number of people or vegetables in the vehicle.
... and no, Monkey, I will not get back on the busZ!
Probably depends on whether the truck driver's company has a policy against it? It illegal in only about 5 states + DC (17 states ban cell phone use by school bus drivers)
Answer: Depends on whether the manner in which truck drivers conduct themselves is contrary or outside the comfort of the buyer, i.e. whether sales and revenue are affected.
If I was a small biz owner buying produce, the fact the driver transporting my strawberries to me was also trying to light a bowl while his tranny hooker worked the gas and brake pedals makes zero difference to me so long as my produce arrived fresh like I expected them.
I guess my point is - what's the diff between a distracted bus driver, truck driver, taxi driver, car driver or screwdriver?
halloween night 1999, I'm at the dupont circle CVS and I watch an off duty female MPD officer whip out her service Glock and point it to a homeless man's forehead while she's screaming at the top of her lungs about how she's not to be disrespected. The store is packed and this goes on for at least 10 minutes. All we could do was watch. All this for what?
Two years prior I saw a black man in his early twenties get 2 teeth knocked out of his mouth with blood gushing from his mouth during an argument with another MPD officer (who was also black) nearly twice his height and width. The cop told him "I don't give a fuck about no complaints, go file a motherfuckin complaint you little bitch"
seriously ...
...huh?
That's a great catch. Good heads up.