Ottawa transit head apologizes after video suggests driver swore, made threats
Posted November 7, 2011 9:50 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The head of Ottawa’s transit service is apologizing for an incident in which a bus driver allegedly swore, yelled at and threatened an autistic passenger.
Alain Mercier, general manager of OC Transpo, has issued a written apology while the service investigates a video posted on YouTube.
The minute-long, obscenity-laced video posted last Thursday shows a male passenger in shorts and a long-sleeved shirt at the front of the bus, behind the driver’s seat.
A man the YouTube post claims is the bus driver can be heard yelling threats and swearing and repeatedly telling the passenger to “shut up.” The driver is not seen.
The video, which was shot by a witness on the bus, ends when the male passenger runs to the back of the bus and gets off, apologizing on the way out.
The president of the transit union says there is no proof the bus driver actually swore at the passenger.
“There’s no video showing the bus driver,” said Gary Queale. “Was it the bus driver actually speaking? If it was, well, there will be an investigation taking place at OC Transpo.”
The YouTube post describes the passenger as a “mentally ill 20 something male” and says only three people were on the bus — the driver, the passenger and the witness.
The passenger has since been identified as a 20-year-old man who has mild Asperger’s Syndrome.
The post says the passenger had been speaking loudly into his phone as if reciting a story before walking to the front of the bus and talking to the driver.
It says the driver became “enraged” and started yelling, and the witness took out his iPhone to capture the incident.
“After trying to apologize and state many times, ‘I’m sorry, I have a mental illness’ the young man was subjected to verbal abuse from the bus driver,” the post says.
Media reports said the passenger acknowledged he may have used inappropriate language, but feels the driver’s reaction was unacceptable.
Many viewers who commented online about the video expressed shock and called for the driver to be reprimanded or even fired. Others pointed out the video did not prove the driver was the person yelling and did not show what happened before his outburst.
Mercier has said the transit company will take appropriate action if necessary once the investigation is completed.
Ottawa’s Mayor Jim Watson took to Twitter to comment on the video.
“Regarding OC Transpo video — like anyone I am very disturbed by what I have seen and heard and want to see a thorough investigation conducted,” he said.
