ABOVE: Has something like this ever happened to you while riding on the TTC?
TORONTO – A TTC driver allegedly abandoned his bus Tuesday afternoon, leaving passengers sitting for over 30 minutes according to a YouTube user who posted video of the incident online.
In the video you can see the bus doors are wide open and you can hear the alarm on the bus going off. It appears the bus is also running.
The driver’s seat is empty and passengers are seen waiting on the bus and lingering around on the sidewalk outside of it.
Victor Bulario, who shot the video, says the driver left the 32 Eglinton West bus at around 1:30 p.m. because he “had to go home.”
Other buses are seen passing the unattended bus as if nothing is wrong.
Bulario explains the situation to another driver who stops to see what’s going on.
The other driver says he knows because the driver was “finished.” He explains the problem is that there is no other driver there to take over, like there should have been.
The other driver then gets back on his bus and leaves.
Exasperated over the event, Bulario stops recording shortly after.
According to The Toronto Star another operator eventually arrived to take over.
BELOW: Watch the original YouTube video which sparked the controversy
Bob Kinnear, president of the TTC workers’ union, told The Star, “There are procedures to be followed. The operator that is being relieved is to identify the operator that’s taking over the vehicle. Obviously there was a misunderstanding or miscommunication.”
TTC CEO Andy Byford told Global News customers should never be left abandoned on a bus, streetcar or subway train and that a situation like this is rare.
“We conduct thousands of bus journeys a day and this does not normally happen,” Byford said.
“The operator who is operating the vehicle needs to ensure that the person relieving them is there and is available to immediately take over.”
“We have to keep this in context. Most of the time, 99.999 per cent of the time it works seamlessly. The guys out there do a great job. But for whatever reason it didn’t happen yesterday.”
The TTC is investigating the incident and plans to interview the driver.
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