Welcome aboard OC Transpo: “If you don’t shut your f—ing face, I’m going to put my fist in it!”

That’s just a taste of the latest entry in the transit service’s growing online hall of shame, a cellphone video posted to YouTube which seems to show a bus driver completely snapping on a passenger who may be mentally ill, and kicking him off the bus after an eff-spattered tirade.

Had the situation been reversed, and the driver been the subject of such abuse and explicit threats from a passenger, the perpetrator could quite easily – and rightly – have ended up in handcuffs. It’s also completely unacceptable when it comes from the driver’s seat.

Such videos are notorious for only telling part of the story, and OC Transpo says they’re looking into the incident. Thankfully, there was no attempt this time to hide behind their rule against recording and photography on the buses, a dodge attempted other times drivers have been caught behaving badly.

That ban is largely unenforceable, and if a busload of smartphone-toting passengers is what it takes to discourage disgraceful meltdowns like this, then so be it. 

OC Transpo’s riders are its customers and its owners. They’ve already been warned to look forward to yet another 2.5 per cent increase in the cost of the country’s most expensive bus ride next summer, and told to be thankful it’s not more. This after absorbing a $20-million service cut in September. 

Notably, this latest outburst occurred on a 96, one of the overcrowded Transitway routes marked for $2.3 million worth of increased service in next year’s draft budget. It’s an attempt to mitigate the effects of those route cuts, which have made the word “optimization” a curse on the lips of riders and drivers alike. It would hardly be surprising if the sharp decline in elbow room on these routes has shortened a few tempers this fall.

Bus drivers no doubt put up with a lot of crap in the course of a day. A certain percentage of passengers are going to be incredibly annoying, whether intentionally or otherwise. Public transit is full of the public, and with over 300,000 daily riders, not every interaction is going to be a joy. Drivers who can’t countenance dealing with the occasional jerk, drunk or weirdo without completely losing it might want to consider a different line of work.