OCTD Drivers Not a Problem, Officials Say

Officials of the Orange County Transit District, reacting to reports that hundreds of bus drivers in Los Angeles are operating coaches with poor records, incorrect licenses or with suspended licenses, said Friday that their district does not have similar problems.

The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner reported that a survey of Department of Motor Vehicle records showed that Los Angeles bus riders have about a 1-in-8 chance of boarding a bus operated by one of the problem drivers.

OCTD officials said their agency has had no such problem because of tough disciplinary rules contained in the drivers’ employment contract.

One OCTD bus operator was fired two years ago when the Department of Motor Vehicles suspended his car license for an off-duty infraction, said OCTD spokeswoman Joanne Curran. She said records no longer show the nature of the infraction.

Unlike the Southern California Rapid Transit District, which operates buses in Los Angeles, OCTD disciplines drivers for off-duty performance. Based on an arrangement with the DMV, Curran said, any change affecting a bus driver’s car or bus license--even a simple change of address--is reported to OCTD within two to four weeks.

Curran said that rules written into the drivers’ contracts give them a week to “clear up their license problems with the DMV” when they have failed to renew their licenses, whether the license is for driving their own car or a bus. A discharge hearing is scheduled if the problem is not resolved, she said.

The absence of a valid driver’s license for reasons other than failure to renew is grounds for automatic, temporary discharge, Curran added. A review hearing is scheduled later if the driver can show that he or she has a court date to resolve the matter.

Bus drivers who have received numerous tickets for moving violations are required to attend counseling sessions. If the tickets continue to accumulate, Curran said, termination may follow. A point system is used, based on the number and severity of the infractions.

But Curran said that OCTD officials do not recall any driver failing to pass muster after a counseling program.

The Herald-Examiner’s survey of DMV records of 443 drivers was prompted by a series of RTD bus crashes that have injured at least 140 people since May 6.

Among the 443 RTD drivers, five had suspended licenses, six had expired licenses and 20 had licenses to drive cars but not Class 2 licenses required to drive buses under state law, the newspaper reported.

Ten of the drivers had outstanding warrants for failure to appear in court on traffic citations.

In the wake of the newspaper report, RTD officials Friday conducted spot checks of 2,000 bus drivers and found only three drivers who did not have valid driver’s licenses.

OCTD employs 732 bus drivers, while the RTD has 5,083 drivers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.