COMMENDATIONS

Celebrating...COMMENDATIONS
Distributed with 4/10/13 paychecks. Flier feedback? Contact Jessica Bucciarelli: bucciarj@trimet.org or 503-962-5851.
“A passenger started to freak out and accuse a couple of other
passengers of ‘jumping’ him. He yelled, paced back and forth, and tried to
provoke the two gentlemen in question. At one point he even threatened
to shoot them, although it was not clear that he actually had a fi rearm.
Whether he did or not, he was constantly on the brink of violence.
The whole time the bus driver remained calm and attempted to talk him
down, which she eventually did.
As an employee of a major hospital, I’ve seen some crazy
things, especially in our ER. The driver showed impressive poise and never
lost her emotional balance as she talked to the man. She never came off as
condescending, scared or angry, just as they train us to do with disturbed
patients. Eventually, the man did leave the bus and agreed to wait for the
police, who were on their way at that point.
I simply cannot praise this driver enough. She kept us safe, kept
the situation from escalation to violence and convinced the man to leave
the bus of his own will. This event should be in training materials, with her
handling of it as a shining example of exactly what to do.”
—Line 4 rider, February 16
“I saw the passenger who had just
deboarded walk in front of the
bus into the street. [The operator]
saw a car coming down the hill; he
honked his horn and the passenger
jumped back....I think the driver
prevented a serious injury or even
death.”
—Line 75 rider, March 13
“A passenger needed medical attention and the driver handled
the situation very smoothly. He contacted emergency response, pulled
over at the next stop, and checked with the passenger if there was
anything to be done while waiting, such as medications to take. He
also protected the passenger’s privacy—it was obvious what
was going on but he did not make any announcements, just quietly
did what needed to be done.”
—Line 54/56 rider, February 11
“Cat-like refl exes!”
—Line 8 rider, March 7,
referring to an operator who
avoided “t-boning a car that
went through a red light.”
“The bus driver stopped
for a blind gentleman who
appeared to be lost. He
was, in fact, disoriented
and she helped him on to
the bus with verbal cues
and made sure he got off at
the stop he needed. It was
a very kind gesture, and
the gentleman seemed to
deeply appreciate it.”
—Line 8 rider, February 4
“The driver
stopped to ask some
people at an accident if
they needed any help.
It had just happened and
no emergency vehicles
had arrived.”
Line 11 rider, February 21
“A woman wearing earbuds and pushing a stroller with two very
young children walked out in front of the train. Had the driver not
seen her, she and the children would have been hit and surely
killed. The driver of this train saved lives today by being an
amazingly safe train operator!’”
—Red Line rider, February 22
“I fell on my way to the MAX, near PSU. The operator got out
of the cab and went all the way to the end of the train
to check on me and make sure I was alright. Please let him
know I said, ‘Thank you and God bless you for having a heart.’”
—Yellow Line rider, March 25
Saving lives every day
Eight February-March examples of customers expressing appreciation for
the role bus and rail operators play in preventing or responding to emergencies.