NEW YORK CITY, February 13 — Today, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) bus driver with 30 years on the job was arrested after his bus accidentally struck a 15-year-old girl, injuring her leg. On Christmas Eve, another driver with almost eight years on the job was arrested after his bus accidentally struck and killed a 78-year-old man. The two bus operators, Francisco DeJesus and Reginald Prescott, were charged with failure to yield, a misdemeanor, and have been suspended without pay pending investigations.
This is how Mayor de Blasio and the racist NYPD plan to cut down on traffic fatalities, in a new plan called Vision Zero. They criminally charge bus operators for traffic accidents, while the cops walk away from racist murders.
Not only are MTA bus operators not “reckless drivers,” they are among the safest drivers in the city. Collectively they drive thousands of miles and move two million riders each day on the busiest streets, often with faulty equipment.
In 2013, 176 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents. After a particularly tragic killing of a young child at an extremely dangerous intersection, de Blasio attempted to target reckless drivers by lowering speed limits, adding street lights at 1,000 intersections, adding speed bumps, and enacting stiffer enforcement of traffic laws.
Also, the law passed by the City Council exempts drivers “engaged in work on behalf of the City, the state of New York....” like cops, fire, and Emergency Medical Services workers. It should certainly include bus operators.
Mass transit around the U.S., is one of the last stable, well-paying jobs for Black, Latin and immigrant workers, and it is under attack. On top of budget cuts, privatization and the increased use of temporary, part-time workers, many cities are imposing criminal background checks on transit workers. PLP-led bus operators in Washington, DC have waged a mass struggle against this. Now NYC bus operators are threatened with being criminally charged for traffic accidents. Building a campaign of racist hysteria to portray transit workers as criminals behind the wheel is the beginning of a massive racist assault on all transit workers and public mass transit.
Transit Workers Union Local 100 President John Samuelson has barked at the arrests and has threatened safety slow-downs in retaliation. But so far, there has been no bite, just bark, as he tries to get the City Council to specifically exempt bus operators from the new law. Shutting down the transit system and taking over City Hall, even for a day, might get their attention.
For our part, PLP is organizing an anti-racist movement among transit workers that can respond to police terror in our communities and on our jobs. We’re building a movement that will put transit workers on the road to communist revolution, where mass transit will be free and safe, and where the racist bankers and bosses and former union hacks will be a thing of the past.