City assesses complaints about bus drivers
Whitehorse Transit has been investigating two separate complaints from cyclists about the behaviour of some of its bus drivers in recent days.
Whitehorse Transit has been investigating two separate complaints from cyclists about the behaviour of some of its bus drivers in recent days.
Rob Pelletier, the alleged victim in one of the incidents, discussed his experience with the Star on Tuesday. It happened to him on May 30 while he was riding his recumbent bike in Riverdale.
He provided the Star with copies of the complaint he filed with Jason Bradshaw, the manager of Whitehorse Transit.
“This is a report of an incident of aggressive and dangerous driving carried out by a City of Whitehorse bus driver. This incident happened on May 30th at around 2 p.m. while travelling in to Riverdale,” Pelletier wrote.
“The bus identification number is 2255.”
Pelletier said, “I was riding my bicycle in the bike lane on Lewes Boulevard just after passing Selkirk Elementary when I was passed by city bus #2255.
“As the bus passed me, the driver intentionally veered into the bicycle lane, nearly hitting me, and then proceeded to move back into the allotted car lane, which is when I noted that it was bus #2255.
“Once I got home, I drove out of Riverdale to find out the name of the driver. I found bus #2255 at the bus stop by Second and Main by the bank.
“I entered the bus and asked him his name, but he told me that he didn’t need to tell me his last name. He asked me what it was about and explained to him that I was the cyclist that he veered into, nearly hitting me intentionally.
“He denied all of it and also told me that everything is recorded, which I was delighted to hear.
“I assured him that this was going to be reported. I told him that I trust that he will never do such things again and that he is a professional driver and should behave accordingly.”
Pelletier said, “This sort of aggressive driving towards cyclists can’t be tolerated at all, especially from a City of Whitehorse bus driver.”
Transit manager Bradshaw spoke to the Star about the incidents Tuesday.
He said an investigation into Pelletier’s case indicated there was no action to be taken. He wrote the same thing in an email to Pelletier.
“Hello, Mr. Pelletier,” the Transit boss wrote.
“Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. The City takes these type of claims very seriously and has fully investigated the events you described on May 30, 2022 in Riverdale.
“As you are aware, Whitehorse Transit buses are equipped with numerous surveillance cameras and tracking devices, all which were employed in our investigation,”Bradshaw wrote.
“After a thorough review of these resources, we could not identify any actions by the driver which would constitute aggressive or unprofessional driving.”
Bradshaw added, though, “While our investigation did not reveal any ill intent on the transit driver’s part, it did offer the city an opportunity to review and adjust how we deliver some aspects of our services.
“We will take this to all of our drivers to better ensure that we mitigate the chances of these type of situations from happening again.”
Bradshaw said the city is still investigating a second complaint filed by a driver the Star hasn’t been able to contact yet.
“We are in the process of investigating the second incident,” Bradshaw said.
City reviews updated routes complaints ... see story below.
Comments (16)
Up 0 Down 1
Rob P on Jun 29, 2022 at 6:58 pm
THE cyclist here, and let me clarify: this is real and it happened. I was riding my bike, (which has a tall orange flag), I was in the bicycle lane on Lewes.....the widest lanes in ALL of the Yukon, it was on a straight away. The bus, while mid pass, veered the nose of the bus in to the bike lane, purposely causing the side of the bus to essentially 'squish' me. He then moved slightly left to line his front right-side mirror up with me to look at me to which I uncharacteristically flipped him the bird, (I was shocked and very upset at such a dangerous and deliberate act). There was no bus stop to stop at. There was no reason at all for it to have happened.
And the weirdest thing is that the city's transit manager seems to want me to shrug it off. Corresponding with Jason Bradshaw has been like pulling teeth. He dodged and ignored my simple question in reference to the video footage that I am not allowed to see: " would you say that the driver left a one meter space between my bicycle and his bus?"
MR. BRADSHAW DID NOT ANSWER OR REPLY.
So there is an aggressive and dangerous bus driver who is still operating a COW transit bus and Mr. Bradshaw is well aware of it.
Up 0 Down 2
Welcome to the Liberal Hunger Games! on Jun 24, 2022 at 7:31 am
Seriously, you would rent to someone who obviously cannot make their commitments on time? Ya, ya, I’ll get the rent to you tomorrow okay… Gee willickers… Quit harping on me I was just playing some Candy Crush and the time disappeared on me… Cool, there is a new version of Angry Birds… Awesome!
What evidence do you have to support your belief in his/her/their story?
Up 9 Down 5
MITCH on Jun 23, 2022 at 8:19 am
Also, body language says a lot and at 30 plus an hour, with benefits, it better say something nice or it can say something in an unemployment line. There is more than one way to not speak English and some are less acceptable than others. Case in point, if you are elderly and trying to find your way, you should be able to ask a driver directions without getting a shrug and a vague sense you are an inconvenience, wouldn't you say? Especially with an aging population that you can't realistically expect to learn every international language in order to take a bus. Your expectation would be racist if you think my expectation is racist, you would have to hold yourself to the same account. We need to divide criticism from discrimination again, they were never one thing and they never will be. So get over it.
Up 10 Down 4
MITCH on Jun 23, 2022 at 8:15 am
You don't like me pointing out that Canada operates in English - you are the same people who get pissy at people in their own countries when they don't talk to you in English on your vacations or give you back Canadian change. Thank you for reinforcing my point. For service in English, don't press anything, because we are english.
Up 1 Down 8
MITCH on Jun 22, 2022 at 4:06 pm
More mindless fans - shouldn't you drivers be getting your fares somewhere on-time?.....
Up 3 Down 11
MITCH on Jun 22, 2022 at 1:11 pm
@ Dave - I am with BnR, you people need to get over yourselves. I do a little of everything and I do it conscientiously, some people in town don't. I get your frustration but do you know how many rear quarter panels I haven't kicked in this year? People in town drive like they should have their power wheels impounded and the communities, can those drivers even read? Let's be honest.
Bottom line, drivers can harp on cyclists and vice versa - you're energies are better served taking it to the city who f***ed us for years on the roads.
Up 5 Down 12
MITCH on Jun 22, 2022 at 10:58 am
Half the drivers don't (or at least won't) speak English, the operating language of Canada. Rude, indifferent, you would laugh at what they make an hour, if times weren't so sad.
Up 3 Down 5
MITCH on Jun 22, 2022 at 10:16 am
I just take pictures of the bus that is 15 minutes late every day now, to compile for later.
Up 15 Down 8
Ryan on Jun 21, 2022 at 1:11 pm
This past weekend I was at the F.H. stop going into Riverdale when the bus sped by me, the driver wasn't even looking when I was trying to flag him down!
Mabye if he wasn't going so fast..I was late for work that Sunday!
Up 26 Down 6
melba on Jun 21, 2022 at 8:27 am
They might want to keep track of some of the personalities they hire. This accusation aside, I met with a potential renter two weeks ago who said that his friend would be there soon but had missed the bus and was walking. He said that as he was getting on the bus, he told the driver that his friend was at the corner of the block running, and was almost there if he could wait for just a few seconds. The bus driver said he wasn't going to wait for people and pulled away while the guy was half a block away, running toward the bus. The bus was almost empty.
I believe this man completely. I pay city taxes that cover transit, and this is not the level of courtesy I expect from 'my employee', toward working poor, decent Yukoners.
Up 7 Down 25
Liberal Crafts on Jun 20, 2022 at 2:44 pm
Very dramatic and very spurious allegations there CJ2 on Jun 20, 2022 at 12:09 am:
You don’t have to be a cold-blooded killer to threaten, intimidate, or otherwise harass people. The story sounds more plausible than not especially with the tensions brewing as a direct result of Liberal divide and conquer identitarian politics…
It seems more plausible that the bus driver lost his/her cool and committed an aggressive act out of impulse. The base rate for aggressive impulses is at an all time high right now… So, there is that…
Quit making up baseless stories. Those are tricks of the Liberal trade.
Up 23 Down 3
BnR on Jun 20, 2022 at 2:38 pm
Dave P, so you’re saying one cyclist reporting perceived negligent behaviour on the part of a bus driver does the cycling community no favours?
Seriously?
I saw an F250 run a red light this morning so all drivers are bad.
All sorts of motorists breaking the speed limit down second this morning therefore all motorists are bad and act like they own the road?
You’re making some illogical conclusions.
Up 38 Down 2
SH on Jun 20, 2022 at 1:07 pm
So much of this story doesn't add up for me. I am highly doubtful that this was an intentional swerve, and I'm highly convinced that the cyclist is exaggerating and misinterpreting the facts.
Up 39 Down 10
CJ2 on Jun 20, 2022 at 12:09 am
"Intentionally veered into the bike lane"? That's a pretty serious charge. It's amazing to me how many people are willing to believe there's cold-blooded killers hiding in plain sight in the most innocuous places.
Another way to look at this story is the guy stalked the bus driver and accosted him in his place of work, aggressively accused him of "intentionally" committing a serious crime, and lectured him about his driving, probably in front of hapless passengers simply waiting to get on with their interminable ride. Thank goodness we have a court system. What a world this would be without it.
Up 13 Down 42
No surprise on Jun 18, 2022 at 10:40 am
No surprise to me, many times I am on foot on the sidewalk of my neighborhood and the bus likes to see how fast and close it can approach me before I jump on the lawns of the neighborhood!
I reported them 4 years ago for this heart stopping behaviour, the manager said the camera on bus shows you had plenty of room laughed and told me to keep up the walking… when I see the bus approaching I purposely put myself in the grass or trees of the yards available- some mentally sick people like to test fate.
Up 80 Down 14
Dave P on Jun 17, 2022 at 5:38 pm
Sounds like another case of a cyclist thinking they’re the ones that own the road. As much as we want to encourage outdoor activities like cycling, cyclists do the cycling community no favours when they act out in such brash and arrogant behaviours.