Tower Transit admits bus driver didn’t give ‘professional response’ after elderly man confronts him for not stopping
An elderly commuter was seen confronting a bus driver who did not stop to let him board near Parkway Parade on April 27.
Stomper JK, who witnessed the incident at about 3pm, said bus service 966 had stopped “a full bus length” behind another bus at the bus stop.
“He did this instead of pulling forward to allow passengers to board easily,” he said. “When it was clear he would not move forward, he closed the doors and prepared to drive off.
The Stomper then saw an elderly man, who was “visibly struggling to walk”, travel a considerable distance to reach the driver and confront him.
He shared a video of the confrontation with Stomp.
In the clip, the elderly man is heard shouting, “Police, police!” while knocking on the bus doors, which do not open for him.
According to JK, the man had mistaken a traffic controller for a police officer.
At one point, the elderly man stands in front of the bus while shouting and gesturing at the driver, who is also seen gesturing from inside the vehicle.
The Stomper is heard shouting at the bus driver, “Why you stop there?” and later, “Complain you!”
The elderly man is subsequently seen standing in the middle of the road in what appears to be a dangerous position, as others are heard trying to get him back onto the pavement for his own safety.
Stomper calls for more empathy
According to the Stomper, the driver had initially wanted to drive off but was unable to do so because of road works ahead.
The Stomper added that the driver appeared to be indicating that footage from the in-bus camera would show he had done nothing wrong.
“Instead of responding with understanding or apologising, the driver reacted rudely and dismissively,” he said. “Because the road conditions were very dangerous, I had to escort the old man back to the bus stop and let the bus go.”
“It honestly makes me angry at the situation. To see our senior, who gave so much to others, trapped in a situation they can’t control — it just feels wrong.
“My personal opinion is that we owe them more than just pity. We owe them our presence and patience, even if we can’t fix what’s broken.”
Tower Transit says sorry for distress
In response to a Stomp query, Tower Transit apologised to the commuter for his experience.
“In this instance, we failed to observe the commuter flagging at the head of the bus bay and did not provide a professional response when approached,” a Tower Transit spokesperson said on may 6.
“These actions do not meet our service standards and we are deeply sorry for the distress this caused the commuter.”
The company added that it is reinforcing service standards across its team to prevent a recurrence.
The spokesperson also said Tower Transit would like to apologise directly to the man and invited him to contact the company so “we can make this right”.
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