NYC transit union leaders say unreliable radio system puts bus drivers, riders at risk
A New York City bus driver said she was assaulted on the job, and when she tried to call for help, the system meant to protect her failed.
Transit union leaders now say it was not an isolated incident, but part of a dangerous ongoing problem that puts drivers and riders at risk.
"I don't think we're safe"
MTA bus driver Bibi Bano said back in October she was driving the B60 bus eastbound on Rockaway Parkway near Glenwood Road when a man boarded, suddenly became verbally aggressive towards her, and began pacing up and down the bus.
"I don't really call command center unless I have an emergency, and that day I had an emergency," she said.
After she took the bus out of service, she said the man spat on her and ran off, leaving her shaken and without immediate help.
"I don't think we're safe because what if I didn't have my cellphone that day? What would I do?" Bano said. "Because there's no other option beside that radio."
Bano said the ordeal has changed how she approaches her job everyday.
"I thank God I'm standing here," she said. "But it's scary."
"They're not going to put this under the carpet"
Union leaders said Bano's experience is exactly why they are speaking out about what they describe as an "unreliable radio system" put in place by the MTA.
"They're not going to put this under the carpet. We're going to make sure ... all the radios are working," TWU Local 100 President John Chiarello said. "We're asking for, in the meantime, to install cellphones on the buses because we are not supposed to be using cellphones. Union members get written up and in some cases are fired for multiple usages."
Chiarello said the problem has lingered for more than a year, and it continues to put operators and riders at risk.
CBS News New York first reported on this problem back in December, but the renewed calls for change prompted transportation reporter Elijah Westbrook to bring the concern to the MTA following January's board meeting.
"What is the timeline to fix that problem? Not study it, but actually fix it," Westbrook said.
"Listen, we don't agree that the bus radio system isn't working. Here's the bottom line: the dispute with that union is they say that instead of having people sit in the bus command center and using technology and consoles and all modern technology to supervise and manage the bus system, that the way you manage the bus system is to have people stand on corners when they can't see where the buses are. We reject that," MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said.
Westbrook asked if Lieber had anything to say to Bano, but he did not answer the question.