Bus Riders Cheer as Passenger Takes Over From Irked Driver

Unhappy with what riders described as a rude bus driver who challenged him to take over the coach, James Biddle climbed behind the wheel and drove away, leaving the angry driver standing on the sidewalk as passengers cheered.

“It was something everyone has wanted to do but lacked the gumption,” the soft-spoken aerospace engineer said Friday of his Walter Mitty escapade.

After stopping several times to pick up and drop off passengers Wednesday afternoon in Anaheim, Biddle, 52, surrendered to police. He was cited for joy riding and driving without a bus license.

“It definitely could have been serious,” cautioned Anaheim Police Lt. Marc Hedgpeth. “It wasn’t a bright thing to do.”

But, Hedgpeth added, none of the 31 passengers on board for the 1.5-mile journey along Route 38 complained to police about Biddle. “Apparently the driver is known for being rude to passengers,” Hedgpeth said, reading from statements to police from witnesses.

The bus driver, Kim Miller, 36, is on a paid leave pending an investigation into the incident, said Claudia Keith, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Transit District.

Miller has been a bus district driver since 1977 with a good record and no accidents for the past seven years, Keith said.

Biddle, a longtime bus commuter from his Buena Park home to work at a Hughes Aircraft Co. facility in Anaheim, said his mutiny was inspired by Miller’s rough and erratic driving and a racial insult directed at a Latino passenger.

Miller could not be reached for comment about the incident.

Biddle boarded the bus after work about 4 p.m. A few minutes later a Latino man in his “50s to 60s” got on the bus and dropped change in the fare box, Biddle said.

According to Biddle and police, the driver yelled at the man because he did not put enough money in the box.

Biddle said Miller used a racial slur, and that is when he stood up and asked the driver why he was being rude.

“If you don’t like it, you can drive it,” Miller told Biddle as he stepped out of the idling bus, according to witness statements to police.

So Biddle, who owns a 27-foot motor home and who used to pilot a big truck rig as a young man, eased into the driver’s seat, checked the gas and brakes and then closed the bus door before easing out into traffic.

Checking the rear-view mirror as he pulled away, Biddle recalled that, “The driver was glaring at me with his arms folded and then his mouth dropped open.”

According to police and his own account, Biddle tried to reach OCTD officials on the bus radio to tell them what had happened but was unsuccessful.

Witnesses told police that Biddle stopped for passengers, carefully collected the proper fares and handed out transfers “like a normal bus driver” until police waved him over.

“They were extremely nice officers,” Biddle said.