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EndDeed OP t1_iszgdys wrote

Reply to comment by fragrancethrow25 in MTA Bus Driver dragged me while my hand was caught between the door. by EndDeed

About to do the same thing. You got any replies back?

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kd10023 t1_it0kypz wrote

As a bus driver I can tell you customer complaints WILL be heard and will be looked into. Whether it’s bs reports of us not saying good morning or egregious reports such as this, this driver will have to explain himself and will likely face a suspension. As a driver I’m sorry this happened to you and stuff like this shouldn’t happen. This will be considered a 1-3 (bus / person accident). Kind of serious.

Reports on the MTA website and via the nyctbus twitter account are for sure heard and looked into. I know Reddit likes to shit on the MTA but one thing nyct division of the MTA do is listen to customer complaints. It’s really guilty until proven innocent here and this is not acceptable tbh

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EndDeed OP t1_it0leps wrote

Appreciate the response! Do you think I will get camera footage of the incident? You think they will give me a copy?

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kd10023 t1_it0m95i wrote

Tbh I don’t know. Damn near all the buses have cameras especially if it’s a bus with a blue color scheme as those are usually newer.

Now just because it’s recorded doesn’t mean the recording will be given to you (I honestly do not know as it’s above my pay grade).

I hope you’re okay, this honestly sounds terrible. I’ve closed the door on a lady before before quickly reopening it (was hidden behind a large man and came to the bus last second), mistakes happen for sure and I was remorseful but this mistaken is crazy because you def should check mirrors b4 driving off.

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EndDeed OP t1_it0ntm7 wrote

If I had a bus driver like you that showed some type of compassion after they dragged me with my arm inside closed doors I would at least feel better. Tbh they don’t even need to give me a copy, just video evidence so they know this happened instead of my word against the driver.

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kd10023 t1_it0p9cr wrote

Lmao not gon lie I’m a decent driver but I’m just doing my job lol. But trust and believe if you made a report it will be heard. Any incident with a customer must be called in on the radio no matter what. If a drunk crackhead falls on the bus we need to call it in and not move that bus regardless if it’s rush hour and the crackhead is long gone. this is absolutely serious and WILL be taken serious. If the operator is a probie (like me) they’ll likely be fired if they didn’t self report it. Trustttt me, the operator will be taken out of customer service and will face discipline.

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woodcider t1_it15n27 wrote

During my Greyhound training we were told to live in our mirrors, move around in the seat to make sure you caught all your blind spots (of which there are many). I was trained at MTA on the old RTS’s and all we had on the right side was the inside mirror pointed at the right side windows and a mirror smaller than a dinner plate pointed at the rear tire. That’s why it was so important that no one stood forward of the white line. But if left to their devices, supervision would load you up with passengers standing in the front stairwell.

I’ve heard that a lot of senior instructors have left recently and there’s a serious brain drain at Zerega. This does not bode well for the operators coming up.

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kd10023 t1_it16v63 wrote

Pretty much taught the same thing here. 2 mirrors on the right side , convex shows your right side, and we have the mirror we place to see the rear wheel area. Also taught to cover our right side for the most part. The middle mirror inside the bus is to show the r/s as well and the space right behind the door. From my experience this set up is highly effective. Haven’t driven any RTSes so can’t speak on them.

Was taught to always check mirrors before moving and to basically live in my mirrors. If you follow what’s taught at zerega you will be safe. You’ll likely provoke a ton of ppl on here to make posts complaining about how slow bus service is but you’ll be safely operating the bus.

Tbh we have zero incentive to rush. Seems like operator in this case was rushing. We literally get overtime for anything that’s unscheduled. If we’re late to lunch or to go home all that extra time is unscheduled. And there’s 0 incentive to rush if you’re not on your lunch or go home trip.

How’s life over at Greyhound?

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woodcider t1_it17yj6 wrote

I worked Greyhound before coming to Transit. Being on call sucks ass. I was called in on my 8s every day so subtracting my travel time to and from the depot (2 hours there and back), I was getting 4 hours of sleep a day. I was having micro-sleeps while driving. Scared the shit out of me so I quit. Plus the pay wasn’t all that great.

I’m so glad I started driving before GPS was a thing. The union told us that the schedule means nothing… safety first. Now there’s so much pressure to meet these horribly timed schedules with so much discipline. Nothing good ever comes from rushing down the line.

Get out the seat at both ends no matter how “late” (no such thing) you are. Not only is it a safety thing to check the bus but getting out the seat keeps you healthy. I used to go round and round and could barely walk for my swing. My right knee still hurts. I totally jacked it up on those RTSs my first year.

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Xendarq t1_it1uohy wrote

This is very interesting! Thank you for sharing.

What is "8s on call", sounds terrible!

What does it mean to "walk for my swing"?

Thank you!!

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woodcider t1_it3gr8e wrote

A “Swing” is the meal break. I could barely walk up the stairs to the swing room. The human body is just not designed to sit in a chair doing repetitive motions for hours on end.

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Bralesslover t1_it29kk5 wrote

I always wondered how the hell RTS drivers were able to change lanes with those ridiculously small mirrors.

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woodcider t1_it3hc1q wrote

I came from driving coaches at Greyhound so the first time I got on the RTS I asked the instructor, “How in the hell am I supposed to see anything?!?” I was flabbergasted.

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SanityPlanet t1_it1c6xw wrote

You'll only get the camera footage if you sue. PM me to discuss.

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Flivver_King t1_it86h2f wrote

They would get it during discovery. OP should absolutely sue, they could’ve been killed.

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vegiimite t1_it25h9h wrote

You could try a FOIA request and see if that gets you anywhere.

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Abba_Zaba88 t1_iszt5dz wrote

Sorry that happened to you. Make a formal complaint of course, but to really garner a response….. you could post what happened to you (with the photos of your injuries and the bus number) on the MTA twitter page. Sadly, I find that may trigger a quicker response than reporting what happened on the mta website

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NathalieHJane t1_it11mxr wrote

Was about to comment with the same, Twitter is the way to go with the MTA in my experience.

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Sea_Sand_3622 t1_it271gd wrote

Twitter is definitely the way to go … do both , via their website and let them know on twitter , twitter will get a much quicker response especially with photos.

Different scenario but shows the power of twitter, my friend had a package stolen from inside her apartment building. The police did nothing after she filed a report, until she posted a video, that her super had downloaded from the house security cameras, on the local precinct’s twitter page . Then the community affairs police officer immediately reached out to her. The package was not an Amazon box but a package from her mother, with a hand sewn sweater for her birthday inside. The guy who stole it was a doordash delivery guy. She never got the sweater back but doordash gave her $250 but at first they gave her the runaround too.

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fragrancethrow25 t1_iszgxue wrote

I opted not to leave any contact information, which in hindsight I should have because I am curious to know if they take action on this stuff anyway. At the time I was just beyond pissed and wanted to get my two cents in while also being a chickenshit about retaliation for some reason. Keep us updated if they reply!

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EndDeed OP t1_iszj6ti wrote

Will do! Hopefully it will help others too if they do take action on their driver.

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