Quote:

film it, put it on youtube. embarrass them publicly and then they'll do something about it.

I'd guess no.


NJ Transit riders log 25,000 complaints against drivers the past 2 years
Monday, July 19, 2010
Last updated: Monday July 19, 2010, 8:52 AM
BY KAREN ROUSE
The Record
STAFF WRITER

One bus driver talked on his cellphone the entire 40-minute ride from Wayne to New York. Another got lost on the way to Giants Stadium, while a third slammed the bus doors on a little girl's head.
Still another smoked aboard her bus, then sprayed excessive amounts of air freshener to mask the odor. And yet another shouted "start walking" to an amputee when a wheelchair lift failed to work.

NJ Transit logged more than 25,000 complaints about bus drivers in 2008 and 2009, records show, the majority describing encounters with drivers who berated passengers, bypassed them at bus stops or drove recklessly ? striking garbage cans, cars and, according to one complaint, a woman's dog.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/98725469_Bus_riders_lash_out.html

This is a bit offtopic but I need help. There's a bus driver that is continuously disrespectful. She continues to bypass us while we wait. The last time she even closed the door in my face and took off. I am at my wits end. I have called a few times to NJ transit to complain. I dont think they do anything about it. Is there a way to get this rude woman to do her job?

Surly bus driver in Jersey City caught on camera driving irresponsibly

Passenger exposes NJ Transit bus driver's dangerous conduct and shines light on broken complaint system Published: Sunday, November 14, 2010, 6:00 AM Mike Frassinelli/The Star-Ledger Jersey City bus driver caught on camera driving irresponsibly JERSEY CITY ? If you have ever had a problem with a New Jersey bus driver and felt like you were talking to a tree stump. If you have ever complained about one to the higher-ups and felt like an ant yelling at an elephant, then you might understand the case of Bus 2637 and its surly driver. It was all caught on video by a stunned NJ Transit passenger as the driver guided his 11-ton behemoth as if he were a teenager, then took on an attitude when a passenger complained. For some, the case underscores one of the biggest frustrations of dealing with a public agency that has more than 10,000 employees and a powerful bus drivers union. When a passenger makes a complaint, they are never told the name of the driver or the outcome of the complaint. In the opening scene of the Bus 2637 video, a bespectacled driver with a gray goatee and mustache is reclining in his seat, brim of his cap slung low, and doesn?t seem to have a care in the world. At some moments he touches the steering wheel with just an index finger, and at other times he does the grown-up?s version of "Look Ma, no hands." He might as well be taking a Sunday stroll in a big Cadillac on the back roads of upstate New York ? except this driver is transporting a 22,000-pound bus carrying customers in New Jersey?s second-largest city, Jersey City. If you don?t like what you?re seeing, wait. It gets worse. After an NJ Transit passenger told the driver he was going in a different direction than expected about 10 minutes into the trip on Bus Route 83 on Sept. 22, the driver stopped in a residential neighborhood, plopped a leg on the steering wheel as if going on a private strike, and declared, "That?s not my problem." Portrait of Blue Hunt outside the Journal Square Transportation Center in Jersey City. Hunt used his iPhone to take a video of a NJ bus driver behaving badly in Jersey City. The driver-behaving-badly moment was captured in a photo by passenger Blue Hunt, a local musician and Weehawken resident who was heading to a meeting at a Jersey City church organization. "At certain points, he would drive with one hand and turn corners spinning the steering column like it was some kind of toy," said Hunt, who also took iPhone videos of the driver. Hunt, who grew up as the son of a New York City bus driver, said he was shocked by what he saw ? and he wasn?t the only one. "Universally, the reaction is that it?s two words: ?Unprofessional? and ?unacceptable,? " NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel said. "The videos clearly show driving practices that are unacceptable, and inconsistent with the training our bus drivers receive." Stessel said he was unable to discuss the punishment for the driver, other than noting that "appropriate action has been taken and will continue to be taken in this case." Two sources identified the driver as Thomas Truex, an employee since 1984, who made just over $57,000 last year, according to the APP.com database of public salaries. A person with knowledge of the case said the driver, who on the video bears a resemblance to comedy legend George Carlin, was suspended without pay. NJ Transit also uses undercover "spotters" who board buses like any other passenger and observe employees to ensure that proper procedures are being followed. The driver is back to work. On Friday afternoon, after dropping off passengers at the Journal Square Transportation Center in Jersey City, he declined comment when approached by a reporter. So did the chairman of his union, the Amalgamated Transit Union. Stessel said it was unclear what prompted the 26-year NJ Transit employee ? who had "an otherwise decent record" ? to behave the way he did. It was not the first time this year an NJ Transit passenger made a complaint and was less than satisfied with the way it was handled. Passenger Martin Shapiro of Weehawken in March complained that an NJ Transit driver leaving the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City tried to drive in the Lincoln Tunnel while talking on a cell phone with her right hand and reading from a piece of paper in her left hand. Shapiro wanted to find out what happened to the driver. He said he was encouraged by someone at NJ Transit to file an open records request ? only to have the request denied because the information was considered "private." "All I want to know is what happened to her as a result of my accusation," Shapiro said. "If I was stopped by a cop for using my cell phone, the fine would be $130. She had 45 people on a bus, so it probably should be magnified." NJ Transit spokeswoman Penny Bassett Hackett said at the time that Shapiro was told he could go through the open records process, but was cautioned that he "probably would be denied because it was a personnel matter." This iPhone photo snapped by Blue Hunt shows the NJ Transit driver sitting with his feet up after pulling over the vehicle and stopping. And in July, passenger Andres Vidal of North Plainfield and his six-months-pregnant wife, Kristina, ordered an NJ Transit bus driver to let them off in Union after the driver swerved across Route 22, mumbled incoherently and nearly rear-ended other vehicles. The driver was met by supervisors at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and suspended without pay pending an internal investigation, but Vidal said his customer service complaints to NJ Transit about the wild ride went ignored. NJ Transit?s Stessel said he understood the frustrations of the passengers, but noted that employees have rights that govern how the disciplinary process is carried out. "One of the rights of that process is privacy," he said. If the appropriate process is not followed, Stessel said, any disciplinary measure could be overturned by an arbitrator. He also noted that releasing names of drivers could leave them vulnerable. "Some drivers have been spat on or had coffee thrown in their face over disputes," Stessel said. He said all customer complaints are tracked and followed up. "Their complaints are not falling on deaf ears," Stessel said. In the fiscal year that ended on June 30, there were 3,970 complaints regarding bus employee performance, Stessel said. During the same period, he said, bus ridership was 161,636,600 trips ? a ratio of one complaint for every 40,714 customer trips. Hunt?s trip in Jersey City got off to a rough start even before he boarded a bus at the Journal Square Transportation Center. After being told by the dispatcher that the Route 83 bus traveled to Summit Avenue, Hunt went to the C-3 gate and asked the driver if he stopped in the 100 block of Summit Avenue. He said this exchange then followed: "Maybe," the driver replied. "Do you or don?t you go to Summit Avenue?" "I guess." Stessel said most of the customer complaints the agency receives about employees relate to attitude and rudeness, and that operational reports are rarer and more serious. The videos showed the bus driver gripping the steering wheel improperly and not using proper posture to maximize the field of vision. The driver told supervisors that when he stopped in the residential neighborhood, he was holding for time because he was early to his next stop. Stessel said buses can be on time, but can?t be early. "In those cases, the bus driver has to pull over and hold for time," he said. "But under no circumstances are you supposed to put your feet up."