Witness says he too would have kicked family off bus
PORTLAND, Ore. – For the second time in nine months a TriMet bus driver has booted a crying family from a bus, but a witness said Wednesday that the family may have deserved it.
According to sources, the driver was the same person who was disciplined for throwing a mom and baby off her bus in September. TriMet won't confirm that but fellow drivers said it was the same driver. Claudeen Hendren, 57, is being investigated right now by TriMet and is on paid leave.
In the September incident Hendren berated a Forest Grove mother on her bus in September because the woman's baby was crying.
In this latest incident that occurred June 7, a witness, Mike Canoy, said he was the only passenger on the bus and it was about eleven at night. It was raining at the main bus turnaround for TriMet Route 57 when Hendren kicked the mom and her four kids, ages ranging from 2 to 13, off her bus.
He said the mother and her four kids tried to use invalid bus passes and then the mom became irate when she was told she would need to pay.
"At that point she was using such foul language toward the driver, and the kids were out of control, I didn't see any other option," Canoy said.
Canoy said he would have done the exact same thing if he was driving. He said at one point the mother just kept yelling, "Blah, Blah, Blah" at the driver as if she was trying to antagonize her.
A TriMet spokeswoman, Mary Fetsch, said drivers do have a lot of discretion on who they can kick off but said providing a good and safe community service to riders should have taken precedent over booting the family off the bus.
"We want to provide good customer service, absolutely, so we think this could be handled differently," she said.
Hendren was suspended for 10 days after the September incident and has been placed on leave as the current investigation continues.
Canoy called 911 and a Forest Grove police officer gave the mother and her 4 kids a ride home to Cornelius.
"It became clear at a point that these folks were not going to be getting a ride on a bus, and the officer decided to give them a ride home," said Capt. Mike Herb with the Forest Grove Police Department.
KATU News was not able to reach the mother, 34-year-old, Maria Ruiz for comment Wednesday.
I would have never kicked them off because if something had happened to one of the kids I would have felt awful.
Smells like a set up for the driver...Tri Met states good customer service should prevail..The mom and her unruly kids don't appear to be "customers" as they didn't pay but appear to be con artists.And again, minorities acting up ?
What is it with minorities being so rude ?
@Mazda84 It's not just minorities. It's a lot of people nowadays. People believe that they are the most important and treat others like dirt. I hope that this trend - brought about by some of those lousy reality shows, I believe - will stop soon.
I've delt with that 57 driver a number of times on my way to work. She is not friendly. she even yelled at me for opening the back door before the green light came on and missed my stop once.Â
i would of kicked them off too.
Wow. There is a whole lot of racism going on in here... Knock off the ignorance, guys...
no ignorance here just stupid non-paying customers who want a "free ride" literally
We need more drivers like Ms Hendren on the #8 going to North Portland.
I am a long time Trimet rider and have seen many rude riders and drivers. I question the driver because of ALL the complaints on her. I have seen some drivers that will get you on a transfer that is one minute past expiration. I have also met many wonderful drivers that love their job, and have a great attitude, and sense of humor!Â
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What's that saying... "Choose your battles"? They both did not need to take it where they did.
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Sadly it is the kids that suffer the most.Â
The witness states she didn't ay, was rude and kids unruly..How much more does one have to endure before ejecting the non-paying passengers ?
 @spaceymacy sounds to me the kids are just as rude as their mother. of course they learned it from her.
Can't pay, you can't ride/
People are so used to getting what they want, without paying for it and without any consequences. We will be seeing lots and lots of this in the future.
"We want to provide good customer service, absolutely, so we think this could be handled differently,"Â
 "A customer (also known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product, or idea, obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier for a monetary or other valuable consideration."
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Since the woman didn't purchase a valid ticket from Trimet, by definition, she was not a customer. Â Combine this with the way she was acting and I 100% agree and support the drivers decision to remove the woman from the bus (If she didn't physically KICK her, the term should not even be used.).
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Even if it IS the same woman from last year, remember, that is a separate case and has nothing to do with this one. Â In that case, a loud screaming crying child was not only causing discomfort to the passengers, it was also providing a DANGEROUS distraction that could prevent the bus driver from doing their job. Â
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As an ex passenger of Trimet, I have great respect for the operators, especially after seeing some of the verbal and physical abuse they have to put up with from various people.
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To anyone familiar with my replies, my apologies for not having funny or sarcastic points here, I've only just started drinking my morning coffee..................... Â no it does not have whiskey in it.
It does sound like she deserved to be kicked off the bus. It't just concerns me that she was kicked off late at night and with four kids. I'm glad she got a ride home safe with her four kids. It's awful that she was cussing at the driver with her kids. Â I don't think a bus driver should have to put up with verbal abuse from passengers. You would think the mother would want to show an example to kids on how to act in public. Â
Breeders with their spawn, think they own the world.
good for the bus driver. i would have kicked off people who are cussing me out too. excessive verbal abuse should not be tolerated on public buses especially at the person driving the bus.Â
Wonderful reporting by KATU. They are taking the side of the irresponsible mother who was trying to get on the bus with an expired ticket. If they let this go then I guess it's all right for all of us to get on the bus with an expired ticket.
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I used MAX today for the first time in a long time. I got an all day ticket and once I was done using it I tried to give it to several people to use since it was good till midnight. Every one of those folks said they had a Honored Citizen pass and didn't need it.
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Am I the only one who pays for my ticket?
 @RalphCramden Stupid old people, getting discounted monthly bus fares, they should be in their cars and driving around no matter how bad their eyesight or how degraded their motor skills are!
/sarcasm.
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But really, all your little story says is that plenty of old people ride the max daily, but some people are so afraid of it, that they stay off it for years.
Speedster...it's not the "Stupid old people" who are the only ones that have "honored citizen" passes. Many drug addicts get them because of their addictions...many young people have them...It's pathetic.
 @bsassy Many young people have them because they have a disability. It may be something you cannot see - such as a heart or lung condition. When I ride, I do a honored citizen pass because I walk with a cane, yet I am "young".
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 @bsassy
"Honored Citizen" was a catchall TriMet made for both elderly and disabled so they could get priority seating (front of the bus) because they often have limited mobility.
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The price difference was TriMet being nice to fixed income seniors.
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But now you can get disability for an ingrown toenail, you can get honored citizen pass for the same reason (once you are considered 'disabled" all kinds of things happen).
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The thought was nice, allow the disabled and elderly good seats and discounted tickets. But it's become a sham now and I don't see anyone bothering to fix it.
Info on honored citizen pass http://trimet.org/fares/honoredcitizen.htm
 @RalphCramden If they have a honored citizen pass, that means they paid for a pass. A lot of people who ride regularly will buy either a monthly or yearly pass.
@Jenni S. @RalphCramden Did you know they give these to recently releasded ex-cons as well? The intent is to provide transportation so they can go find jobs. Perhaps some of these passes should be re-titled.
 @Brownknight  @Jenni  @RalphCramden I don't think they give them honored citizen passes - they probably give them a regular pass. Honored citizen passes/tickets are for elderly and disabled people.
Although I agree that bus or train service is a public service ~ and of course, good customer service is important ~ I ALSO firmly believe that there is, or should be, a limit to the kind of or amount of abuse that the bus driver and or other passengers should have to take from a disgruntled would-be passenger and/or passenger's kids.  Â
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A verbally abusive person yelling at the driver and kids screaming and raising he** in the background is distracting to the driver and is therefore unsafe.   TriMet also needs to consider the feelings of their other customers in these situations... in this story, there was apparently only one other passenger  (Mr Canoy), but that is not always the case... and those other passengers also have rights. Â
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The fact that a woman is on the bus (or trying to get on the bus, she happens to have kids with her does not, IMHO, absolve her from behaving like a responsible adult.   I don't think we have all the sides to this story yet, so I hesitate to make any kind of "judgment" beyond my above comments.Â
Well...personally, whether they're "illegal" or not...maybe it's time the US and local governments showed these people that living here isn't a free ride. I ask you...had the woman acted less hostile...she did have a little child...had she tried to use calm and reason...wouldn't you think things had gone better for her? But instead she apparently (from a witnesse's observation) used profanity, was antagonistic toward the driver...you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. Are people so lacking in the common idea of diplomacy that we resort to this? Except for the little one throwing a wrench into the dynamics, I'm all for the driver in this instance and would have booted them all out the door, no questions asked.
oh golly SCREW THE MOM ...the poor employee has a literal chain of command (waste of money in the days when common sense prevailed instead of politically correct CRAP)  she has to go thru...you may recall the driver that broke all the rules to get off and save some kid or damsel in distress(i forget) a few weeks ago?  he was lucky he didnt get canned.  he broke the rule but the public pressure (the common sense part) would have made life miserable for tri met had he got fired.  i cant wait until the revolution. Â
There's no "public service" in subjecting a paying customer to that. Perhaps by "handled differently" she means the driver should have put Mr. Canoy off so that this woman and her kids could ride for free without bothering him.Â
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Have to wonder why the police gave her a ride home then...
@NWskeptic To serve and protect. It was the right thing to do.
 @Bob  @NWskeptic I am not disagreeing, I've read several accounts of what happened here, Based on this story, it seems the passenger was at fault, but honestly I don't know what is true. I do believe with the number of complaints against the driver, that it is likely something that was escalated by her.
Well she has a big bulls-eye on her back right now. I would go with what the witness says. He has no dog in this fight and in believing him, the driver sure does not deserve discipline on this incident. I took complaints against many young officers and well over 80% of them were resolved on the spot, explaining why the officer did what he did. Most of the rest demonstrated they were just unreasonable people.
It's good customer service to put up with any outrageous behavior and abuse (yes, it's great fun to get spit on) from your customers. Time for TriMet management and Mary Fetsch to drive a bus for awhile.
If the passenger does not have valid tickets, pass, etc., the driver has every right to kick them off the bus - it doesn't matter what time of day/night.
 @theprodigal Actually, Trimet has a policy that certain populations (youth, women with children, elderly, disabled, etc.) are to still be given a ride under certain conditions even if they don't have fare. Nighttime is one of those conditions.
@Jenni S. @theprodigal Where is that policy?
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 @Brownknight  @Jenni  @theprodigal Well, for some reason my reply with the information has disappeared. Maybe because it came from a KGW story?
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Well, here's the info from the story. I'll leave off the link. You can probably Google part of the info below and find the story:
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TriMet officials said they were aware of Chapman's complaint and were investigating the incident. A spokesperson also told KGW Monday that TriMet policy states drivers should not remove members of the "vulnerable population" from a bus or MAX train. That "vulnerable" category includes women with babies, the elderly and teens.
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If there is a problem with someone that fits the vulnerable category, the bus driver is supposed to contact their supervisor, who will come out to assist them, according to TriMet.
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 @Brownknight  @Jenni  @theprodigal I'll see if I can locate it. It came up the last time this driver kicked a family off the bus, which was why the driver was disciplined for it.
I think someone is trying to get a free ride. And then go to the media when things do not go their way. Why was she out that late at night with her youngest being only 2. The driver had every right to decline her the ride. The police officer was being very kind to give her a ride. Am sure he did not want those kids out any later especially if it was raining. Maybe she was under the impression that becuase she used hte tickets earlier in the day, they would be good for the return trip. But if that was the case, then she needs to know how to read english....
 @lizz Tickets have numbers on them, so even if her native language was Spanish, she would still understand the numbers. Most everything else on the ticket is in code other than the time.
 @lizz Also, there are plenty of reasons to be out late with your children. You may have worked late and are now heading home with your kids, for instance. You may work off hours (not everyone gets to work M-F 8-5) and your household is on an alternative schedule. Our family used to do that before our daughter was old enough for school as well as during the summer. With both of us often times having to work until late, that meant we needed to sleep in later and stay up later in order to have family time.
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It's summertime. People stay out late. It happens. Doesn't make you a bad person.
 @musiclover Profanity and acting that way makes her a bad mom. I was pointing out that just the fact that she had her kids out late doesn't make her a bad mom. Several people have tried to say that just the fact she had her kids out that late made her a bad mom.
 @musicloverÂ
I agree, rightous or not, yelling profanity at a person WILL NOT get you what you hoped for. I am certain both women could have handled this better.
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But I have ben tired after a long day, hungry and want to go home. They both may have very well been in this state and both are to some degree responable for the escalation in the altercation.
Given the fact that she was using profanity and verbally abusing the driver in front of her children, I have to disagree here. She IS a BAD mother, and having her children out that late at night is also an indicator of being a bad mother! I understand what you are saying, and there may be times that being out that late is appropriate - but never using bad language in front of kids! Trying to get a free ride is also an indicator - the driver had every reason and right to kick them off the bus!!
Probably an illegal alien trying to get a free ride
Trying to get a free ride.....nice try....and now they go crying to the media. Boo hoo.
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You will also get kicked out of a theater if you have no ticket. Even if your kids cry.
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You will get a parking ticket if you don't pay the meter. even if your kids cry.
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Grow up already.
Sounds like this mom is a real bi##ch, And is not setting a good example at all for her kids. It is good the driver has a witnesses on his side. I wonder if the lady will end up finding a good TV lawyer and file a suit?
Trash!