Drivers flagged on outside jobs

More than a dozen MTA bus and train operators were busted driving for-hire vehicles, including Ubers and Lyfts, during mandated rest time between shifts, the agency’s inspector general found.

In a report Wednesday, the IG’s office said it used Taxi and Limousine Commission data to catch 16 bus drivers and four train operators behind the wheel of for-hire cars during their regulation eight hours of down time in the 16 hours preceding their transit shifts.

One moonlighting bus operator never once received the required eight hours in a stretch of three shifts in January 2018 — and sometimes had as little as 2¹/2 hours of rest, the IG found.

MTA workers can get approval for second jobs, but the agency told investigators that drivers would never be OK’d for outside gigs operating a motor vehicle because of safety reasons.

Fifteen other operators were also busted just for driving for-hire vehicles without authorization.

One such train operator was found to have made 337 for-hire vehicle trips over an eight-month period. He received a 30-day suspension without pay for the transgression.

Of the operators caught driving instead of resting, three were fired, one retired, two resigned and the rest were suspended without pay for a period, the IG said.

The investigator recommended the agency immediately reiterate the rules to all operators with TLC licenses, and transit officials complied.