EDGARTOWN, MASS. (WHDH) - A Martha’s Vineyard Transit Authority bus driver has been fired after telling a rider they didn’t pick them up because they were black, theauthority announced Thursday.
At about 4:25 p.m. Wednesday, a VTA bus traveling from Edgartown to Oak Bluffs passed a person who trying to flag the bus on Beach Road, near Oakdale Drive in Edgartown, according to a release issued by the transit authority. Although the bus was at capacity, the driver hadn’t switched the destination marquee to read “Bus at Capacity.”
The person who wasn’t picked up took and Uber to Oak Bluffs, where he questioned the driver about why he wasn’t picked up.
“Upon review of on-board audio/video footage, it was determined the vehicle operator responded to the person’s inquiry by saying the bus was full, and when the person challenged this response, the operator stated, ‘well, it’s because you are black,” the authority’s announcement read.
“The VTA and their operating company, Transit Connection Inc., who manage the vehicle operators, have a zero tolerance policy for this type of behavior,” the authority said in a statement. “The vehicle operator involved in this incident has been terminated from employment, effective immediately.”
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