TriMet bus driver again accused of kicking a mom, kids off bus

maybe if people would control their kids this wouldnt be happening.

the driver has the right to keep the bus in order. and to look out for the rest of the riders.

Here's the tell-all as far as I'm concerned:

 

In the first incident, TriMet disciplined her (10 day suspension w/o pay) in part because she hadn't contacted dispatch before the incident 'escalated' to the point of kicking someone off the bus.

 

So, did she contact dispatch this time? Did she at least make the attempt before a police officer had to get involved? If she followed protocol, she's in the clear. But if she's selectively enforcing those rules that pertain to the riders, while ignoring protocol for her own standards, then I have no sympathy.

 

i own a business. Those employees that don't follow the rules find themselves unemployed. If my business is going to fail, I want it to be because of something I did (or did not do), NOT because of something that someone decided to do on my behalf without informing me.

I wasn't there, but the witness in the above article seems to indicate the driver did her job.  I think it would be pretty hard to deal with that day in and day out. 

I have to wonder if this bus driver has issues with Hispanic people and that her reactions are motivated toward that end. Granted the tickets were expired and the mother was rude, but there were young children involved. That said it is my understanding that TriMet has a child protective policy in the dark of night: And, by kicking them off of the bus the driver essentially violated that policy. She needs to find other suitable work or get anger management training. 

I miss the old "Thumb Down" button.

From my understanding of the reports, their fares had expired and the woman was being rude to the driver since the driver wouldn't let them on. I am on the side of the driver because you have to have a valid fare. I am a MAX rider and they probably rode the bus with valid fare and got off to do something but when they tried to get back on their previous fares had expired. Plain and simple they needed to purchase another ticket....or....get a monthly pass or all day ticket and you don't need to worry about an expired fare.

I should think by now TriMet would have some quality surveillance cameras on this bus, complete with sound recording so they could monitor or review any complaints about this driver.  Cameras don't lie like drivers and passengers do.

The driver *eventually* drops the entire family off at 11 pm at the end of the line? Is that where they wanted to be or did she refuse to drop them off earlier? 

Where there is smoke there is fire.... 

I ride the bus every day and I see both the driver being rude for no justified reason at times, and I see very rude people get on the bus that the driver has to deal with. It seems like there is a struggle for power sometimes, the people getting on the bus upset about schedules and fares, and the driver upset that the passenger is upset with them even though they are doing the best they can and schedules and fares are not their fault or decision. This seems like a power struggle to me and the bus driver won. Both parties need to check themselves.

I think this written portion of article is pretty one-sided to make a judgement call.  People complain all the time and spin the story that holds them in the best light.  Witness said the mom was out of control and rude, not the driver.  This was the end of the line and these people were "no pays" trying to give the driver expired bus passes.  All mom had to do was cough up the cash and refused to do so.  This occurred weeks ago and mom is setting up for a cash settlement.  Give the driver a break, here.

If the driver doesn't like what goes on with passengers, then I think she is in wrong line of work.  Passengers should be respectful and pay the fare, but crying kids cannot always be helped.

Why is this person still working for TriMet???

Why don't they just make this Bus Driver the G.M. of Tri Met so we don't have to read about the kind of stuff anymore? Can't take too much brains to run an organization that can't meet it's budget.

" the incident started after the driver and mother started arguing over the fare." 

 

She probably thought she should be able to ride for free!

See how people act when they get free food, free housing, free utilities, free cable TV,…  Anything else they need or want should come free too, shouldn’t it?

I'd rather like to thank the FG officer who took the family home.

I don't blame her for not wanting people crying on the bus. So, maybe this didn't bother other passengers, but they were not the ones driving......it is very difficult to have such distractions while trying to drive and consider the safety of many other passengers. I would rather have some uncontrollable passengers ejected from the bus I was riding on than to place my own life in jeopardy just because it was OK with other passengers that crying did not distract them They were NOT doing the driving. And furthermore, if this mother of 4 had such hyper children and depended on the local transport system all the time, she should have been prepared to pay and board the bus ahead of time as she certainly was aware of what she needed to do long before the bus arrived for her to board in the first place. For the driver to make exceptions for her and upset the boarding process was to her credit.....so, she yelled at the mother for not being prepared....so what? What's the big deal? Stupid mother should have been prepared to begin with........and if she and her 4 kids couldn't tolerate a raised voice repremanding her for her stupidity why should the driver have to suffer ?  Oh, you say the driver shouldn't be driving at all if she is that sensitive? Well, I would rather have a driver considering the safety of many rather than the few when my own safety is at stake. Perhaps she didn't use the excepted "politically correct" attitude......but who really cares? I'm for the driver.....she did what was best for her and her other passengers safety.....and that mother of 4 can get off her high horse and follow the rules of public transportation rather than expecting them to cowtow to her own instabilities.

Of the last incident, TriMet spokesperson Mary Fetsch said:

 

"99.9 percent of our operators do a great job every day," said TriMet spokesperson Mary Fetsch. "This was a really a rare occurrence. It's an unfortunate incident, but we are taking steps to ensure it doesn't happen again."

 

"We took appropriate action," Fetsch said. "We're watching. We did a very thorough investigation and took appropriate disciplinary action."

 

Fail.

 

This is not just a failure of the TriMet driver, but of TriMet administration who apparently condone such actions. I'm anxious to hear admin's current spin on the lack of customer service, and the absolute validity of their so-called "appropriate disciplinary action." I'm fairly certain that they'll be "taking steps to ensure it doesn't happen again"- for another few months.