By Nate Jones
Staff Writer
Don Hopkins said October is one of the most difficult months to be a South Portland City bus driver.
“I don’t know why it’s particularly busy then, of all the months in the year,” he said. “Usually you just have to remind loud and obnoxious teenagers that they’re in a public place.”
Commuters taking advantage of the city’s buses will have to mind their manners should Transportation and Waterfront Director Tom Myers’ proposal to create a new “Rules of Conduct and Inappropriate Behavior” policy for city buses be accepted by the city council – which was receptive of the concept at a July 7 workshop.
Myers said he realized the transportation department needed to create a written policy for passengers after it suspended a South Portland resident from riding on city buses for 60 days after she urinated on her seat.
“This person had already been warned about disruptive actions,” Myers said. “We felt compelled to restrict her from the bus service.”
The department joined forces with the city’s corporation council to draft a letter, which was sent to the resident suspending her from riding the bus. The incident was one of several “thorny issues” both city and outside legal counsel has helped the department diffuse in the last year, according to a June 25 memorandum from Myers to City Manager Jim Gailey.
“Our bus drivers have experienced an increasing number of situations of inappropriate behavior by passengers.” Myers wrote.
Myers said egregious incidents are rarely dealt with by bus drivers, and the new policy would more than likely not change current practices used by the drivers to deal with inappropriate behavior.
“Most of the time passengers appreciate the service and act appropriately,” he said. “Every once in a while people can be disruptive. It’s as much a safety and a security issue as it is getting something on the books for our drivers to fall back on.”
The new policy – which Myers said he “borrowed heavily” from the Madison, Wis. Metro Transit rules – would restrict passengers from eating or drinking, using an audio device without headphones and bringing uncaged animals on the bus.
In reviewing the policy, Hopkins said he was surprised by some of the other prohibited behavior, such as bringing fishing rods “which are not broken down or have unsecured or exposed hooks or lures” onboard.
“I never would have thought of that, but clearly that would be an issue,” he said.
Hopkins said his six years experience driving for the city has taught him the best way to deal with inappropriate passengers is to be clear and upfront about their behavior. In extreme cases, he said he will stop the bus and talk to them at their seat.
“That usually works right off the bat,” he said.
A majority of city council members said they were comfortable with the new policy, and some were even surprised there were currently none in place.
“It seems like an impossible situation without having the teeth that this kind of policy would give,” said Councilor Claude Morgan.
Councilor Linda Boudreau said she was in favor of the new policy since the “only people impacted will be people who don’t behave.”
City Clerk Susan Mooney said the city council is scheduled to vote on adopting Myers’ proposed code of conduct during their next regularly scheduled meeting on July 21.