Bus drivers: Give us a break

Restroom access critical as recovery time can be shortened by traffic

Parked outside the Norwalk Transit Wheels Hub on Tuesday morning, Terry Sprell was reading the day’s newspaper, taking advantage of one of the few short breaks during his more than eight-hour shift.

An employee of Greater Bridgeport Transit, Sprell has been a bus driver for more than 40 years, most recently on the Coastal Link route, which takes passengers from Milford to Norwalk. On most runs, Sprell has about an hour to complete the trip, which is often impossible with traffic and stops.

“You’ve got to really push it to try to make it here,” Sprell said. “You’re trying to get the passengers here so they don’t miss their connection.”

If he’s late, Sprell’s “recovery time”— space between the culmination of one shift and the beginning of another, meant to allow drivers to rest, eat or use the bathroom — is reduced. For Sprell, a diabetic who needs to use the bathroom regularly, this is especially problematic.

“We need the break, especially those of us that are diabetic,” said Sprell, who lives in Bridgeport. “I have to try to make the time.”

This issue of recovery time, and especially bathroom time, is the focal point of a dispute between the bus drivers who make up the Amalgamated Transit Union, of which Sprell is a member, across the state and their employers.

A survey released by the ATU found that more than half of all their bus drivers which serve Connecticut riders have no access to restrooms while they’re on the job.

The survey was conducted following media reports that some bus drivers wore adult diapers on the job due to the lack of access to restrooms at work. The transit workers surveyed were from the Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, New London, Milford areas, among others.

The bus drivers also have held two rallies about the issue to try and raise awareness. Mieum Media also put together a video and interviewed Mustafa Salahuddin, president of the Bridgeport Transit Union and a former bus driver, and several current bus drivers, about the issue.

“If I am driving and I need to go to the bathroom then I am driving under duress,” Salahuddin said in the video. “And that’s fatigue. And duress and fatigue equal an unsafe situation that can lead to something possibly catastrophic.”

Norwalk is one of the only cities in the state whose drivers are not participating in the campaign — they are not represented by ATU. But drivers for the Norwalk Transit District reported comparable problems on Tuesday.

One driver, who had just parked her car, declined to comment as she rushed inside. She had limited time to use the bathroom before her next route. Another driver, George Elliot, of Norwalk, said similarly.

“We don’t really have time to have food or use the bathroom,” Elliott said as riders boarded. “They take advantage of us.”

Kimberlee A. Morton, chief executive officer of the Norwalk Transit District, did not respond to requests for comment.

Salahuddin said in an interview Monday, “there simply isn’t enough time in many cases for bus drivers to go to the bathroom and meet their schedules.”

“Congestion, increased ridership, and tighter schedules have all made the problem worse,” the president of the Bridgeport Transit Union said.

In the recent ATU survey on the issue 60 percent of bus drivers reported having no clean, accessible, well-equipped or secure restrooms at the end or along their routes.

Four out of five said they simply didn’t have enough time built into their route to go to the restroom, according to the survey; two-thirds said they had changed their eating and drinking habits to, hopefully, be able to refrain from needing to use the restroom while they were driving their routes. Sprell said he rarely ate while driving. “The only time I eat is when my sugar gets low. I’ll get some candy,” Sprell said.

The survey further reported that more than a quarter had soiled themselves or pulled their bus over on the side of the road to relieve themselves.

The biggest reason bus drivers won’t stop and go, when they need do, is they fear that they will be disciplined if they wind up being late with their run because they went to the restroom.

For Sprell, who was driving a 5:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. shift, during which time many riders are on their way to work, it’s about getting customers that he sees daily to the office on time.

“They shouldn’t have to miss their connection,” Sprell said.

Salahuddin said from his perspective the restroom break problem isn’t a contract issue for the unions.

“It’s a human issue,” he said.

Bus driver management isn’t insensitive to the problem — at least that’s what Doug Holcomb, chief executive officer of the Greater Bridgeport Transit District, said in an interview Monday.

The restroom break problem is “a national issue” for the bus driving industry, Holcomb said.

“We’ve taken steps to address the issue over the years,” Holcomb insisted. “Over the last eight years we have modified schedules and worked with the bus drivers when issues come up to fix problems,” Holcomb maintained.

Holcomb did take issue with Salahuddin’s claim that bus ridership was increasing, making going to the bathroom a tougher chore for drivers.

“Actually our highest ridership was during a period in the summer of 2014 when gas prices were very high,” Holcomb said. “While ridership is up from our low periods the fact that gas prices currently are more affordable means less riders from peak periods.”

Nevertheless, Holcomb said that management will continue to meet with the drivers in an effort to address the problem.

“Our door are always open,” Holcomb said. “Schedules can and will change if they need to.”

CTtransit General Manager Cole Pouliot echoed Holcomb’s comments, stating CTtransit has set up “bathroom committees” to discuss the bus drivers concerns with an eye toward trying to resolve the issue. CTtransit is a division of the state Department of Transportation that provides bus service via contract with providers in seven different areas of the state, mostly concentrated in the Hartford and New Haven areas. The Greater Bridgeport District operates independently from CTtransit.

“We are committed to listening and trying to work together with the bus drivers on this issue,” Pouliot said.

Parked several spaces down from Sprell at the Norwalk Transit Wheels Hub was where Elliot, of Norwalk, sat. He was just beginning his shift, which wouldn’t end until 9:30 p.m., and would offer no respite until 5 p.m. at the earliest, provided he didn’t fall behind schedule.

“No bathroom breaks, nothing,” Elliott said.

This story may have been modified from its original version. See the original at ctnewsjunkie.com.