June 15, 2009

MBTA fires bus driver who stepped off to use cellphone

The bus driver thought he found a loophole in the MBTA's new ban on operators using cellphones: He did not bring a cellphone to the job, which is now banned, and he did not talk on one while driving. Cellular News reports.

quotemarksright.jpgInstead, the 41-year-old driver put his Route 111 bus in park on Sagamore Street in Chelsea, borrowed a cellphone from a passenger, and spent nearly five minutes talking while riders sat waiting for him, according to a video taken by a camera installed on the bus.

The driver, whose name MBTA officials would not release, was fired Thursday.

... The last employee who violated the new policy, a train attendant on the Orange Line, was slapped this week with a 10-day suspension for wearing a wireless device on his ear.quotesmarksleft.jpg