Split shifts and 'Big Brother' driver cameras: Union takes the mic at bus crash inquest
Union raises concerns about privacy but 'would never stand in the way of safety'
The coroner's inquest into the fatal OC Transpo bus crash of 2019 is exploring a broad swath of ideas for making transit safer: everything from creating more mentorship opportunities for new drivers to making their schedules more consistent.
When it comes to the prospect of driver-facing bus cameras, however, the head of the union local representing OC Transpo workers is voicing some reservations.
"The Big Brother fishbowl is always a concern," said Noah Vineberg, the president of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 279 and a bus operator for more than 20 years.
"I just have concerns with privacy and always being under the microscope [and it] possibly becoming a retention [and hiring] issue," Vineberg testified on Tuesday.
If cameras were mandated, though, "this union would never stand in the way of safety."
Vineberg's testimony came on Day 10 of an ongoing inquest into the events and fallout of January 11, 2019, when a packed double-decker bus slammed into a Transitway bus shelter at Westboro station.
Three people — Judy Booth, Bruce Thomlinson and Anja Van Beek — died, and many others were injured.
The City of Ottawa accepted civil responsibility for the crash.
The Westboro bus driver's phone
The bus driver, Aissatou Diallo, was charged with 38 counts of dangerous driving causing death or bodily harm and was acquitted of all charges in a judge-only trial in 2021.
During that trial, Crown attorneys claimed that at some point during her route, but before the collision, Diallo unwound her headphones and put her earbud in her left ear. They pointed to camera footage taken from Westboro station immediately after the crash, which the judge criticized as "particularly unclear." The trial also heard Diallo eventually called a supervisor in the collision's aftermath.
While nobody at the inquest has explicitly suggested Diallo was wearing earbuds or using her phone in the leadup to the crash, photos of her entering the bus holding her phone and handling the phone's earbud wiring after the collision have been included in a detailed narrative of the crash submitted on Day 1 of the inquest.
"The operator's cell phone records indicate that she did not use her cell phone for the purpose of making a phone call between 3:40 p.m. and 3:52 p.m. There is no evidence that Ms. Diallo used her phone for the purpose of texting during that time period," reads the final paragraph of the narrative.
On Tuesday, Peter Napier, one of the lawyers leading the inquest, asked Lindsay Toll, section manager of training and development for the city's transit services department, if the cameras currently covering other angles on OC Transpo buses would capture "if a driver, for example, was using a set of earbuds."
They would not, Toll replied.
Mobile phones and earbuds are not allowed to be used by bus drivers while handling a vehicle, Toll added.
Camera privacy concerns
While OC Transpo buses don't feature driver-facing cameras, LRT trains do — they're required under the federal government's regulation of rail lines. That footage is examined "when it's absolutely necessary" for an investigation or for training, Vineberg said.
Buses, meanwhile, are equipped with a number of cameras including one showing the driver's view of the road, which Vineberg said is sufficient and "valuable" in showing drivers' reactions.
"I do have concerns with privacy," he said of a camera that would face the driver. "That is the operator's workspace."
OC Transpo does use telematics — GPS trackers that relay real-time information about a bus driver's performance.
But those are only on four buses, whereas they're used in many of the city's other municipal vehicles, the inquest heard.
More mentorship sought
Five civilians from the Ottawa area are listening to the inquest testimony and are being asked to make recommendations to prevent tragedies like the Westboro crash.
Vineberg was also asked if he had any suggestions.
He said it would be better if drivers got the same number of training hours on all bus types. That's not currently the case. Trainees get more hours on 40-foot single-deckers than on double-deckers and 60-foot articulated buses.
He suggested training at more times of the day, and more opportunities for new drivers to be mentored by experienced ones.
I can't say that I would have been here 23 years if there wasn't that opportunity to ... know my conditions improved throughout my career.- ATU Local 279 President Noah Vineberg
The mix of assignments bus operators choose from, as well as the city's practice of interlining its bus service, make things challenging for drivers, Vineberg added.
"Could [the city] build pieces of work that allowed operators to get four days off every two weeks?" asked John McLuckie, the lawyer for ATU Local 279.
"Absolutely," Vineberg replied.
Interlining refers to driving different routes on the same day instead of just driving one route all day. The vast majority of drivers don't like interlining, Vineberg said.
"There is something to be said for knowing the back-and-forth route and knowing your regular customers as well. That's the way it used to be, so to speak, when I started."
Split shifts — where drivers work a certain number of hours during one part of the day, are off-duty during an interim, and then do other runs later in the day — make it difficult for some drivers to get two consecutive days off, he added.
At OC Transpo, drivers work up to a maximum of 12 hours, which can contribute to fatigue, but the city has the power to lower that "spread time," Vineberg said.
"Something in the 10- to 11-hour range would definitely help."
Defending the seniority system
Vineberg spoke against the idea, brought up earlier in the inquest, of restricting drivers to certain bus types.
"I would not want that job," he said of the scheduling challenge that would result.
He also defended the seniority system that results in senior drivers getting first dibs on shift selection, which the inquest has heard leaves "junior" drivers with fewer options — or what one official at the city called "crumbs."
"I can't say that I would have been here 23 years if there wasn't that opportunity to ... know my conditions improved throughout my career," Vineberg said.
ATU 279 and the city are due to negotiate a new collective agreement as the current one expired at the end of March.
The inquest continues on Wednesday.
WATCH | Looking back on the crash and its lingering impacts:
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