President Valenti’s Comments to MTA Board on Dept of Buses Plan to Relocate 26 Road Dispatchers to the Bus Command Center,min 4:08

“Today I am sounding the alarm and requesting a public hearing of the serious safety crisis being created by the MTA

 -due to your decision to eliminate 26 Bus dispatchers from the street and relocate all of them to the (BCC)” Bus Command Center

Removing the Dispatchers from the street will immediately put the riding public and the Bus operators in a more dangerous position

The dispatcher is the only representative from the MTA that is out in the streets with the public answering questions, helping the old to the young with all kinds of issues such as being lost, lost property, directions, holding a bus for someone running to make it

Calming angry riders in bus stops when buses are running late

When standing in bus stops with a badge and radio, they are a deterrent that prevents bad things from happening

For the Bus operator the dispatchers are the first responders

When a bus breaks down.

when there’s an accident or when an operator faces a threat — it’s the supervisor who shows up first.

They keep the operators and our riders safe, and they stabilize dangerous situations.

To make matters much worse, the Command Center where they will be assigned has a radio system that fails almost every day.

And that radio is the only way the BCC can communicate with the operator.

 So, if the BCC radio system is not working, there’s no way to get in touch directly with the bus or the operator.

 And that’s extremely dangerous to riding public and the bus operators.

The BCC radio equipment cuts out, video freezes, communication lags. and while the system fails, our riders and our operators are left exposed.

This decision by the MTA puts everyone at risk — riders waiting for help that doesn’t arrive, leaving operators forced to handle dangerous situations alone.

this foolish move by management is stripping away safety, and this will cause preventable incidents to turn into disasters.

I’m calling on the MTA to hold public hearings and reverse this decision

Technology can help us, but it cannot replace the human presence of trained supervisors in the field  Safety must come first for our riders, and bus operators