Policy #1. Every policy is subject to the common sense exception.
"When the doors close, the bus goes"
except when doing so strands a parent from their kids
Then the bus stops and the doors open - Rocket science?

I have seen that happen here too, although backward. The mom took the stroller off first, and then turned around to grab her toddler, and the driver closed the doors and drove off.
The kid fell over in the little stairway there. Now, in the driver's defense, he probably didnt see the kid down there.
But we got him to stop right away...he even pulled up to the curb.
My only gripe with him is he was totally rude about it and wasnt apologetic at all. Not even an "oops." It was more of a "Cheney comment on the Senate floor" moment. He was quite an ass.

I hesitate (not really) to mention that this sort of thing would happen exactly once if the employee in question worked for a private concern.

Unless, of course, the local government had tied the union bell to their employers tail.

oops.

I have a new catch phrase for that bus driver - "If this bus goes, I bloody your nose"

Hate to expouse violence, but no way would that bus pull away from my 2 and 5 year old kids while I'm still on board.

It'll be interesting to see the results of the "investigation" but I'm already sickened by the official's assertion that to the driver's credit, he did exactly as trained.

Excuse me? What if one of those kids got hit by a car? What if one of the good samaritans that stopped turned out to be a not-so-good dirtbag?

This story makes me sick to my stomach.

It is this type of thing -- and this is not the only example I've seen -- that keeps me from using mass transit. This is why I bought a car.

What was the bus driver thinking when everyone on the bus was screaming at him to stop? Suppose one of the kids was being
dragged by the bus???

If a bus driver is so stupid that he can't grasp that something must be horrible wrong when his passengers are screaming at him then he should be a bus washer not a bus driver.

Many subjects brought up on this blog are troubling. Many are frustrating. But this is INSANE. These are tiny children, appropriately relying on the rest of us to protect them. What the hell was that driver thinking?
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I don't care how discouraging he may think it is to get a regular paycheck simply driving around all day (not to belittle his job - I appreciate good drivers, but come on!). As a fellow human being - give me a break. This guy has no business dealing with the rest of us. Maybe he's a nice guy who is burned out. Move him out. And take his "supervisors" with him.

Daddy/Molly said it all.

The bus driver in question is not qualified to operate a commercial vehicle.

I'd love to see Tri-Met hire him though: jaywalking on his route is going to become a capital offense.

"I hesitate (not really) to mention that this sort of thing would happen exactly once if the employee in question worked for a private concern."

If it makes you feel better, this isn't true at all. I work in unemployment benefit law, and believe me, I've seen "private concerns" put up with worse first offenses than this without firing the person. The idea that private business immediately fires bad or unproductive employees is basically an urban legend.

The idea that private business immediately fires bad or unproductive employees is basically an urban legend.

Well, if you say so, then I guess it must be so.

Actually, most "legends" have a basis in fact and, after 40 years in dealing with the public, I'll stick with my assertion based on personal experience, thanks.

I spoke with an insider at LTD who said they couldn't fire the driver if they wanted to (which they don't). They've only had one fatality (that anybody remembers), and that driver wasn't terminated either. Even better: he is hearing impaired!

If the same thing happened with a non-union driver (imagine an Avis shuttle bus) behind the wheel, he/she would be fired immediately.

> The idea that private business immediately
> fires bad or unproductive employees is
> basically an urban legend.

Well, if you say so, then I guess it must be so.

Well if you are snarky enough, then I guess it must be wrong, eh? Boy you must have worked at different places than I, because I'm constantly amazed that corporate America gets anything done with the type of people that tend to infest a large org chart.

Tri-met bus drivers are rude as well, how hard is it to wait another 10 seconds to let on that person that is running up to the bus? How difficult to wait a min if a transferring bus/max is pulling up nearby to see if anyone needs to switch?

But to be fair, they deal with a choice set of mouth breathers every day. I'd be a little grumpy too if I drove a bus through fareless square all day.

Also, that guy named his kid "Tor", if being left behind in traffic is the worst problem he has during his childhood, he dodged a bullet.