Whats wrong with Kelowna transit?

[ZaftigBoy]

the bus is a good thing and although it is not perfect it is wonderful to have i remember when we did not have bus well we had a sort of bus way back but it was old schoolbus used and was not reliable and only went to a limited places now you can get everywhere with the bus

it is not as convenient as your own car or truck but it willl take you and for some people they would not go anywhere
if you are just on parole for instance or are a young undwed mother then it is good to have the bus

[dcipher]

Sophie, if you read the story today on the Westside youth now being bullied and threatened by the bus drivers, you'll see that indeed, your impressions - not just of individuals - but of the union itself, are spot on.

Disgusting what they are doing now, and their "reason", is not only illogical, it's shameless. ie. We can't let him on the bus because we're worried he'll catch more of us doing things wrong, and our worrying endangers other passengers.....

[gordon_as]

Just drive the bus jerk. Don't talk on your phone , and don't worry about a kid with an iphone. Remember who you work for.

[grammafreddy]

http://www.castanet.net/news/West-Kelow ... us-drivers

Bullied by bus drivers
by Ragnar Haagen - Story: 84094
Dec 4, 2012 / 3:30 pm


Photo: Contributed - Nathan Peters
A still frame from the video Nathan shot.

A West Kelowna man is having difficulty getting around town after his riding privileges were unofficially revoked by local transit drivers.

Nathan Peters says everything changed after he videotaped one driver talking on a hands free device while operating a bus – something that goes directly against company policy.

"I've been getting harassed and getting refused rides," says Peters, who made the video last month.

"I'm getting called names because of this, getting threats and no one seems to step up and do anything about it and it's getting way out of hand. It's embarrassing, I'm trying to get on a bus and getting refused rides 24/7"

A spokesperson for B.C. Transit says they are aware of the situation and have reached out to Peters.

"We met with the family and discussed how to de-escalate the situation," says Meribeth Burton, with B.C. Transit.

"Our hope is that he will de-escalate the confrontational behaviour, our buses and drivers will get back to what they should be doing -- which is serving the entire population -- and we've assured Nathan that if anything ever happens where he feels like he is not allowed to, or doesn't feel comfortable boarding our buses, that he gets in touch with our office."

The local transit union disagrees with claims that Peters is being bullied by the drivers, and instead call the situation a safety issue.

"I believe what the drivers are doing is they're worried - that while they're worried about him on the bus videotaping them, they're watching backwards when they should be watching forwards," says Les Milton, President of Amalgamated Transit Union local 1722.

"What they're doing is basically standing up for the rights of the other people on the bus to have a safe ride. There's enough distractions in the City of Kelowna and our work place is certainly hazardous and our schedules are pushed to the outer limit. Drivers are just deciding they're not going to take this man because the stress is too good on them."

According to Peters, nothing has changed and he is still being refused rides.

The driver in question had their contact terminated, but that decision has since been reversed.

[dsldriver]

Apparently the driver does have to worry about the kid with an iphone. he might get fired over it.

[Captain Awesome]

http://www.castanet.net/news/West-Kelowna/84094/Bullied-by-bus-drivers

Funniest story ever.

[grammafreddy]

Apparently the driver does have to worry about the kid with an iphone. he might get fired over it.

Only if he does something he knows he shouldn't do while operating the bus.

[dcipher]

Apparently the driver does have to worry about the kid with an iphone. he might get fired over it.

As he should be. One can only hope.

The ridiculous part is that, this rule is not some onerous, purely bureaucratic fluff. Most people in their jobs have to follow more burdensome rules than not talking on your phone while driving a bus. Moreover, studies have shown that talking on a phone, even a hands-free phone does indeed slow reaction time considerably. It's a good rule, and compliance should be the least we expect.

[mxtaylor]

Why is Kelowna transit always a miserable experience?

I have never had a single pleasurable experience with Kelowna Transit....is it just me?

Sophie, you must have had the little Iraqi driver ;-). I have utilized the transit for 10 years here, 6 days a week. I have railed, ragged, and written every connection there is about every problem, inconvenience, delay, stupid routes and lack thereof. I even wrote the transit manager about a driver with a bad attitude - and the transit authority slipped up and gave driver my email complaint, and I received an anonymous threatening email from the driver - who then harassed me the next few days in front of other passengers.. well he's fired.

No, he's not fired.

[gordon_as]

A spokesperson for BC Transit said ""Our hope is that he will de-escalate the confrontational behaviour" which makes me question......... Is Nathan being confrontational and pushing drivers buttons to get a response , or is he just trying to ride the bus ? It makes a difference to me. If the later , then the drivers have the problem , if the former , then Nathan is the problem.

[mxtaylor]

Sophie, if you read the story today on the Westside youth now being bullied and threatened by the bus drivers, you'll see that indeed, your impressions - not just of individuals - but of the union itself, are spot on.

Disgusting what they are doing now, and their "reason", is not only illogical, it's shameless. ie. We can't let him on the bus because we're worried he'll catch more of us doing things wrong, and our worrying endangers other passengers.....

how would you feel if some little jerk was following you around all day video taping everything you did?

also, this was done as a setup with a transit supervisor phoning the driver. The supervisor here also received a ticket from rcmp for using his phone while driving a company vehicle. He then set the driver up using nathan as his weasel. This supervisor also drives nathan all over town in a company vehicle......hmmmm....what's going on here?

yes, nathan is deliberately trying to provoke a response so he can tape it. He threatens to sue transit every time.

[oneh2obabe]

Sophie, if you read the story today on the Westside youth now being bullied and threatened by the bus drivers, you'll see that indeed, your impressions - not just of individuals - but of the union itself, are spot on.

Disgusting what they are doing now, and their "reason", is not only illogical, it's shameless. ie. We can't let him on the bus because we're worried he'll catch more of us doing things wrong, and our worrying endangers other passengers.....

Have you ever ridden transit on the westside and witnessed the BS drivers put up with? How convenient - nothing mentioned about these poor innocent "kids" trying their best to intimidate passengers waiting at the exchange.

[grammafreddy]

how would you feel if some little jerk was following you around all day video taping everything you did?

also, this was done as a setup with a transit supervisor phoning the driver. The supervisor here also received a ticket from rcmp for using his phone while driving a company vehicle. He then set the driver up using nathan as his weasel. This supervisor also drives nathan all over town in a company vehicle......hmmmm....what's going on here?

yes, nathan is deliberately trying to provoke a response so he can tape it. He threatens to sue transit every time.

LOL - if true ....... it sounds like maybe you need to arrange for your own you tube video

[mxtaylor]

very true. the union figures that this supervisor...let's call him jim....thought if union saved bus drivers job, that the company would have to dicipline him rather than fire him for the ticket he received. the whole thing stinks.

[French Castanut]

This one shocked me. This lil guy videotaped a bus driver talking on his cellphone while driving, and now he's mainly banned from taking the bus because the bus drivers union says it makes the drivers anxious & they look backward instead of forward and it may cause accidents knowing someone may videotape them. Like... really?

But there's three sides on a story...

The guy taped... what was the context? Taped like that or 2 inches away from the drivers face. Kinda?
How did the other drivers became aware he taped?
Etc