Unsuck DC Metro: Bus Driver Read Newspaper While Driving, Rider Says

Guest · 638 weeks ago

The union gets all persons like this male back to work. Especially if he helps those in the Union hall get elected again.

Jeff · 640 weeks ago

I really hope Metro takes this seriously. Safety should be their #1 priority. Props to customer service for providing the investigator's contact info.

1 reply · active 639 weeks ago

Neil · 639 weeks ago

What? The driver will get a four month paid vacation after which he will be reinstated. Nobody at Metro ever gets fired!

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@ChrisHowdy · 640 weeks ago

Call me glass-half-full, but it's encouraging that some of them can apparently read.

3 replies · active 640 weeks ago

@JaundiceJames · 640 weeks ago

No, he was looking at the pictures in the New York Post.

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Lola · 640 weeks ago

It gets barring driving that thing day in, day out!

Lola · 640 weeks ago

It gets boring driving the same route day in day out!

Red · 640 weeks ago

Oh, god. 12 minutes between trains? It's not even going to be that good -- that 12-minute lag will just grow and grow since trains will be so crowded that each stop will take twice as long. As it is now under "Rush+" the wait times can be 18-20 minutes on the Blue line.

So, my question is: Will Metro still charge rush-hour fares to Blue line riders once this happens?

Cetus Jenkins · 640 weeks ago

I'm surprised this driver would even take that chance, given that other drivers have been busted this way as well. Practically everyone has video capability on their phone and can record or photograph anything in an instant.

2 replies · active 638 weeks ago

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Bob · 640 weeks ago

Of course they don't care. There is no consequences because Jackie and her goons do not allow anyone to be fired.

Anon · 638 weeks ago

Bob you are right. He probably has relatives working at the Union hall from DC and he would be back to work soon and offered a promotion., The union and the company are one-- there is really no difference. They protect each other and some they do nothing for and want them gone.

J. Jeter · 640 weeks ago

Photoshop

2 replies · active 640 weeks ago

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former union memeber · 640 weeks ago

Grievance: was not reading
Jackie Jetter: Oh, I can see you were not reading
Membership: Yeah, take it to arbitration. Brother was been with Metro for to many years to loose his job.... voted to arbitration
Metro lawyers: we are unprepared and would like an extenstion
Union Lawyer: no, we proceed
Arbitratior: give the man his job back plus back pay.

former employee · 640 weeks ago

Can't fix stupid

BradK · 640 weeks ago

Re Kjyta's article;
"Metro says it will be running more eight-car trains to help ease crowding on what riders now dub the Blue Crush"

One eight car train is more than zero eight car trains... Don't be surprised when metro pulls this stunt and calls it a success.

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John · 640 weeks ago

Bob tell this bus driver what he's just won!

Bob: Well, bus driver, you've just won a 2 week paid vacation to Punta Cana!

guest · 640 weeks ago

reminds me of the bad old days when i took the bus down columbia pike....except one of the bus drivers back then would read paperbacks.

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Sweet Bobby · 640 weeks ago

Looks like someone is about to get a 6-month, retroactively paid vacation (apparently I still believe in slavery)!

D2bus · 640 weeks ago

I hope this is the same D2 driver who is always chatting up female passengers while he's driving.

Ophthamistic Dreamer · 640 weeks ago

Are there any pocket track and turnaround experts reading the blog today?

If so, please help me flesh out this notion: Re-define the routes of the lines.

Are there any other options for a grander-scale re-alignment? (i.e. Do the tracks exist to make blue line flow from Franconia to W.Falls Church (turnaround at rail yard?) and let the Silver line take up all Blue line responsibility through the core?)

If not, would it be worth the effort to try and get other transit oriented blogs/sites involved in campaigning for local gov or metro to add the track/capability to provide these re-alignments? I know this is totally head-in-the-clouds and eye to the sky, but my name says it all.

5 replies · active 638 weeks ago

@ChrisHowdy · 640 weeks ago

In theory you wouldn't need the yard to turn Blue trains at West Falls, since it's a three-track platform; use two tracks for Orange traffic and one for Blue in/out. Whether you'd be able to run trains like that at rush-hour headways, I don't know.

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@perkinsms · 640 weeks ago

No. The only thing that a train entering Rosslyn from Court House can do is proceed to Foggy bottom. The tracks to go from Court House to Arlington Cemetery do not exist.

Similarly for trains entering from Arlington Cemetery. They must proceed to Foggy Bottom.

This kind of upgrade is on Metro's radar screen as an improvement. I would assume this will cost a couple billion dollars to complete (with a similar upgrade at Pentagon).

Metro's much-maligned "momentum" campaign is supposed to be getting the public to think about these things and pushing for local funding.

Matt G · 640 weeks ago

Sadly, the tracks aren't configured to allow a train traveling North from Arlington Cem toward Rosslyn to be able to continue outbound toward Vienna without seriously snarling things because it would have to use the 'inbound' track from Rosslyn to Court House before switching over to the proper 'outbound' track.

Anon · 638 weeks ago

Hey Matt- You can turn a train on any platform.

Jason · 640 weeks ago

The best ideas I've seen involve things like turning the Blue Line into a Pentagon-Rosslyn shuttle with relatively frequent service. As someone who commutes Clarendon-Pentagon City a three seat ride for a single extra stop would be annoying but it's still a good idea. For the personal reasons I just mentioned though I think that truncating the Blue to be Franconia-Rosslyn would be more desirable.

(Just to put this up front I haven't bothered to check if this is feasible or not, and it's possible that the point of Pentagon-Rosslyn idea was that the train could just run back and forth on the same track.)

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Guest · 640 weeks ago

I'm surprised that any Metro bus drivers can read!

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govtminion 62p · 640 weeks ago

Yep. Serious reaction impending. Fire his ass, rehire him a few weeks later quietly, pay him for the time he was away.

You're DRIVING A BUS, dude- there's nothing in that paper that can't wait an hour.

1 reply · active 640 weeks ago

BrianKal · 640 weeks ago

wrong, he will be promoted to station manager. It's called fast track.

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Stan Dessel · 640 weeks ago

He's not reading a newspaper. It's a bus safety manual. Safety first!

You're welcome!

NoNo · 640 weeks ago

Useless video, as long as you don't have on the same not edited video:
- The driver reading
- A clear view of his/her face
- A easy reading of his/her nametag
- A shot of the bus number
- Geolocalization data in the metadata of the video corresponding precisely to what you can see through the windshield

Without all that, metro will dodge the complaint, arguing they are not able to identify the driver.... Exactly what happened to that cyclist hit-and-run by a WMATA bus a few months ago on Wisconsin Avenue...

2 replies · active 640 weeks ago

MsKat · 640 weeks ago

Unfortunately, you also cannot tell by the photo or video whether the driver is actually reading it, or whether he is just holding it, the way someone might do if they had directions or a little map. Granted, whether they were reading it or not they should not have had a newspaper in their hand while the bus was en route, but Metro may have that observation to use in disputing the allegation as well. Just my viewpoint after reviewing the photo and video.

Leila · 640 weeks ago

I agree after watching the video a few times. It does not show the posture of reading. It just seems as though he is holding it. In fact, he doesn't adjust it for reading. This doesn't mean you're wrong, just that the evidence isn't there.

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noodlez · 640 weeks ago

IM GETTING SICK OF YOU WHINY ASS WHITE FOLK!
ESPECIALLY ONES WEST OF 16TH STREET WHO WOULD SUBMIT SOME FAKE ASS GOTCHA VIDEO THAT COST WORKING FOLK MONEY AND THEIR WAY OF LIVING BECAUSE SOME ASSWIPE WANT SOME SHINE ON THEIR MISERABLE POINTLESS LIFE.

AT NO POINT DOES THE VIDEO SHOW THE OPERATOR READING THE PAPER. A LOT OF OPERATORS USE NEWSPAPER TO SIT ON. THERE ARE NUMEROUS REASONS WHY HE COULD HAVE HAD NEWSPAPER IN HIS HAND. BEFORE SMARTRIPS THEY HAD TRANSFERS IN THEIR HAND, FOLK TALK TO OPERATORS ALL THE TIME AND AVID JHORT WEARING CYCLISTS ARE MORE CONCERNING TO BUSES THAN VICE-VERSA ESPECIALLY IF OPERATOR HAVE TO SLAM ON BRAKES FROM BEING CUT OFF AND STANDING FOLK DOMINO TO FRONT.

INSTEAD OF VIDEO TAPING OPERATOR WHY DIDNT BITCH ASS INQUIRE AS TO THE NATURE OF WHY HE WAS HOLDING NEWSPAPER IN HIS HAND.

4 replies · active 639 weeks ago

Croikey · 640 weeks ago

It's against my personal policy to feed belligerent trolls, but I just gotta poke this one with a stick.

How do you know the person taking the video was white?

DCer · 640 weeks ago

"... THAT COST WORKING FOLK MONEY AND THEIR WAY OF LIVING..."
With this union? Hah - there's no way this driver will lost his job. We all know other drivers hjave done far worse and the union protected them. This video isn't going to cause anyone any harm.

The truth · 640 weeks ago

You must be one many Bus Operators whom violated WMATA rules each day need to be educated about what safe driving is. I only takes micro second look down read newspaper to slow reaction time down to prevent an accident. For record In not an "White' Person but "Black" educated person whom use bus, rail, sevice over 10 plus years. To post such unless dumb post to ask Why holding Newspaper , is insult any educated person with common since.

WeGotsTwo16s · 639 weeks ago

East or west 16th?

guest · 640 weeks ago

WTTG carried this this morning. good job, mr unsuck!

guest · 640 weeks ago

Driving is a full time job, even when it's not your paid career. I have to assume that the paper is being read at some point on this trip. Maybe only at red lights. How can you possibly know what is going on around your vehicle, whether moving or not, if you are not paying attention. Hopefully, when he looks back up from the paper, everything is just how he left it.

mazziedc 0p · 640 weeks ago

"Metro said it only sees the driver holding a newspaper in his hand, but they are looking into it."
Other people have noted that above, as well, but isn't it bad enough that he is holding the paper and steering with THE SAME HAND and has no other hand on the wheel? I mean, people do stuff like that all the time when they are driving, but driving a bus full of people should at least take one WHOLE hand.
I was on a bus once where the driver was steering with his elbows so he could eat from a bag of nuts.

I've also seen other bus drivers read maps while they are driving, which is ... I mean, I guess I am glad they are figuring out where to go (though, whether that's better or worse than drivers who get directions from passengers is uncertain), but why doesn't WMATA do more to help drivers on new routes?

One take · 639 weeks ago

Simply reading the newspaper while driving a metro bus isn't enough to get this stellar driver a raise.

Reading the newspaper, insulting passengers, purchasing and eating a half-smoke, flirting with women, and cutting people by going over 2 lanes of traffic; all while driving a metrobus will earn this stellar driver a raise.

One take · 639 weeks ago

Simply reading the newspaper while driving a metro bus isn't enough to get this stellar driver a raise.