Two B.C. bus drivers are being accused of behaving badly, including one who kicked a mother and her three children off a bus in Victoria and another who allegedly kidnapped his passengers in Kamloops in a confrontation caught on video.
B.C. Transit spokeswoman Meribeth Burton says the company is investigating the Victoria incident, in which a woman filed a complaint claiming she was booted from the bus because the driver thought her family was making too much noise.
The mother boarded the bus Tuesday with her infant son and two other children on a trip from Esquimalt to the University of Victoria.Fellow passenger Karita Del Moral said the driver asked the mother to keep the noise down, even though it wasnt disruptive.
He finally said, you can get off the bus...this is your stop, youre going to get off and kicked her off the bus with her three children, she said.
The mother left the bus in tears, said Del Moral.
Burton said the actions of the driver were not the policy of B.C. Transit.
Families, babies, children are warmly welcomed on B.C. Transit and if someone wasnt following B.C. Transit policy or conduct of which we expect from our drivers then that will be an internal investigation and well deal with it, said Burton.
In a separate incident, Burton said B.C. Transit has suspended a Kamloops driver with pay after a video posted on YouTube titled Transit Driver Kidnaps Passengers showed a male and female passenger yelling at a driver to let them out after he apparently missed their stop.
Burton said the driver is being investigated for allegations he didnt follow disembarking protocols.
Management here at B.C. Transit has watched the YouTube video and were very concerned with what we see and hear, said Burton.
There is a high degree of professionalism that we expect at all times, she said, regardless of the challenging situations they might encounter each day.
The video, posted by TrueLiesCanada, captures the incident after the confrontation had already begun. It records a female passenger yelling at the driver for missing her bus stop.
This is public transit, all I want to do is be able to get off at my stop! she says.
