I thought the sole purpose of a bus matron was to make sure the passengers got to their destinations safely. Don't they have to do a bus sweep once their run is over? What about the driver? Doesn't the driver check the bus at the end of his shift? This is madness!

@Crabby Cakes wants some Dance Biscuits.: Madness?! This is CAKETOWN!

Sorry couldnt resist :P

Im also confused about why no one went looking well before 10:30am O_o

"... and that's how I spent the best New Years Eve, ever!"

my mom was a bus matron for a little while. they barely get paid a living wage. their job is to make sure the passengers are strapped in to their seats carefully, to help make sure that the passengers safely board and leave the bus, to make sure the bus is empty of passengers at the end of each run, and to maintain the cleanliness of the bus. they also have to call the parents ahead if the bus is going to be late for some reason (bad traffic, flat tire, etc). Some bus companies make you place a sign in the back of the bus after each run to make sure the matron actually goes back there and checks.

the bus is also supposed to get checked buy the staff in the parking lot. they get a $ reward if they find a passenger (and the matron and driver get fired).

Too many people f*cked up on this one.

How about a bus driver bailout?

Isn't that next? I mean, after the stock-kiddies, auto manufacturers and newspapers, of course.

@hankrearden: "after the stock-kiddies, auto manufacturers and newspapers, of course."

You forgot the telcos and the cable companies.

Bus matrons the equivalent to museum security guards?
These are minimum wage jobs, so expect the same sort of fast food attitude of caring here.

@Triborough:
You do get what you pay for..
My son had leg surgery and was on crutches, so the school temporarily assigned a special-needs bus to pick him up in front of our home.
Every morning, the woman driving the bus comlained loudly that he was screwing up her regular routine. Then shortly after he had the cast removed (but still on crutches), she told him he "looked better" and the next day just skipped our stop. He tried to make his way to the regular bus stop and fell into a slushy puddle, ripping his pants and bruising his knee.
I drove him in later that morning, and while I was tempted to make a scene and raise h*ll, I quietly and firmly asked to speak to the bus coordinator (who worked for a nationwide bus contractor that rhymes with PaidPaw..). We chatted for a few minutes, and he said he'd take care of things. The next day they called to say that the driver had been fired. That seemed to be the easiest solution, I guess, rather than finding and training (and paying) capable people to do the job.

@marks2l: That's a horrendous story! I'm glad you followed through, and I'm also glad you had the ability to cool down (not sure I would have, but good for you).

I hate when people take jobs they're not suited for personality-wise. I understand economic conditions and such, but if you're working with kids -- and special needs kids at that -- you need to be a certain kind of person, and certain other kinds of people should NEVER work these jobs.

Argh.

@marks2l:"That seemed to be the easiest solution, I guess, rather than finding and training (and paying) capable people to do the job."

They probably fired the driver in question because you were the umpteenth person to complain about her. While you may not think it was the right solution to YOUR problem, they may have had OTHER problems with that driver that you don't know about.

And there shouldn't be too much training necessary to do said job. If you have a Class B CDL with passenger and school bus endorsements (which is what is required to drive a school bus), you should understand that taking care of kids is part of your job. Not willing to do it? You're Fired!

"These are minimum wage jobs, so expect the same sort of fast food attitude of caring here. "

When I was a fastfood cashier our store caught on fire. My minimum wage ass directed customers out and checked the washrooms for people. That is not job performance that is basic human decency.
If you have special needs people strapped into seats on your bus no one should have to tell you how important it is to check the bus at the end of the trip.

[wcbstv.com]

However, late Thursday sources told CBS 2 HD police were talking to the bus matron Linda Hockaday, the assistant to the bus driver. The source said Hockaday admitted to knowing that Rivera was still on the bus when it was locked up on one of the coldest nights of the year. Her rationale for leaving? She apparently didn't want to be late for church.

@richcreamerybutter: Her fellow churchgoers should get the opportunity to ridicule her actions. I hope the sermon that day was along the lines of "be kind to your fellow man."

@richcreamerybutter: Her rationale for leaving? She apparently didn't want to be late for church.

I'd say she's going to the wrong damn church. Clearly she hasn't learned much from the one she's going to.

@marks2l: What you pay for is for somebody to do their damn job. It's certainly true that a job should pay well enough to attract competent people, but I really don't understand this mentality that if a minimum-wage worker screws you, too bad, you should have paid a premium for them to fulfill the bare minimum they are TAKING MONEY to provide.

@mythago:

Yes. Absolute bare-bones minimum service at minimum wage? You should be willing to do that if you take the job. This means when you buy gas at the gas station and hand the clerk a $20, he gives you the correct change.

Although, it doesn't mean you need to smile, look happy, or even look like you care. It just means you do what it takes to complete the job.

I've taken such jobs before, and let me tell you, the best thing I ever did was turn into a robot for 8 hours. Questions about the weather outside? Uhh... what's that? Questions about products? Gasoline makes your car go. Oil makes it go better. Want more info? Read the can. :-)

There's no excuse to not do the job. I'd never hand customers the wrong change, and I'd never not authorize pumps or anything lame like that. But service with a smile and actually being helpful, or knowing what products we stocked? That costs more than less-than-minimum-wage (place demanded we come in 15 minutes early and leave 15 minutes late unpaid, that turns minimum wage into less than minimum wage). If I were a minimum wage bus driver, hell, just a sense of humanity alone would stop me from being this kind of a jerk. :)

God bless them one and all.

A job is a job no matter how much it pays.
You know what the pay is going in and you can either accept it or look for another job.

Low pay is not an excuse for doing a poor job.

As quizzed by the OP, why isn't the company/matron contacted immediately in these situations?

Hey NY, with our rule happy mayor;
How about a new law, leave a kid or adult on a bus or in a car and you spend a year in jail, no exceptions just like if you're found with a gun.

He was 6'2 and they left him there? That is some bad overlooking. I can understand it being busy but even one of the other passengers, the last to get off possibly, should've said something. "Guy is down there.." It's a Holiday and everybody is just so focused on their own needs, and this poor man got left behind.

By the way, on an off topic note, I'm really enjoying these new posts so far. Calling the rep and doing these little fact checks (I know they were done before) is great. Though Chris' name ought to be at the left of this site.

Maybe They (the family) were looking for an easy way out of the "burden" of dealing with him...

just a little cash dispersed over time to the matron, and she could "forget" to do her bus sweep that night.

The kid freezes to death, the family collects life insurance (shedding a few tears at the same time) and no more little billy weighing down his family...

@Crabby Cakes wants some Dance Biscuits.: Yeah, wouldn't any reasonable person pulled to a stop, picked up their stuff, glanced down the aisle and said "Whoa, buddy's still back there."????

@pwillow1: If she needs church to remind her not to leave a disabled person alone on a bus in freezing weather, she's got something wrong with her that church can't fix.

@richcreamerybutter: It was bad enough when it was an "innocent" mistake, but she admitted to leaving that poor man on the bus? I think jail time is definitely in order. She can use the jail time to read up on her religion.

@killest: Absolutely brilliant Holmes.

I was once in training for a school bus driver and one of the things they drove into our little minds was to always check the bus to make sure that no one was left in the bus. I guess that it being New Years and all, a person left behind is no a problem. And after law suits and the police charges, there won't be a bus company to make these kind of mistakes, a a bunch of out of work bus drivers nursing their hangovers.

Irony... Oustanding Transport my ass.

@killest: Wow. Just...wow.

@Jim Still Canuck After All These Years:

You'd think they'd at least have someone spot clean the bus when it's round was over, and he'd be discovered!

@killest: Maybe it's the family, or maybe it's the bus company. One account I read mentioned a second fleet of white buses in a separate lot that they didn't tell the cops about. What's that all about? How far has NYC really come since Willowbrook?

My little brother started kindergarten this year and was dropped off at the wrong school four times before his driver was assigned an assistant who's sole job is to make sure that the driver doesn't let the wrong kids off at the stop.

When I was in middle school I accidentally nodded off (it was an hour and a half long trip) and the driver found me at the end of his run. The poor guy was very understanding and I felt bad that he had to go thirty minutes out of his way to take me back home. And in high school I had a great driver who gave us all Christmas presents and Easter baskets full of candy and showed up extra early at school to make sure we were the first out of the parking lot so we could get home without too much of a wait.

I guess it's a lot like playing the lottery, but if you've got kids or loved ones involved that can't take care of themselves you have to watch these people like a hawk.

Here is the thing, this was a Holiday why the bus company was up and running I have no idea. This whole idea that we should work all weekends and holidays has affected the average worker. Not seeing this worker wasn't wrong in this instance but still you overwork people and make them work days that your grandparents wouldn't have worked in their day and look what you got.

It used to be on a holiday you stay at home or close by family. Now you got people doing road trips and so you have people working at jobs on all days of the year to accommodate. I never figured out why is it the grocery stores are open, who is stupid enough to shop on Christmas Eve? Who is stupid enough to drive there car from the north too the south where they literally shut down almost all services on holidays and weekends and then call for help!

Bottom line, all business should cease on weekends and holidays. If you get stuck or want to keep active on other peoples expenses too bad! At my profession I get calls at all times of the mornings and weekends from people who have decided they wanted to go out extremely late or early and then want road service but knowing their town closes at 7:00PM. What do you think I can do?

On any other day I would be screaming for my pitch fork for this negligence I see in this article but come on its New Years Eve. She or he was most likely trying to get home as quickly possible and was unlucky enough to have been scheduled to work. that day.

@Ronin-Democrat:

Sorry bud but yeah I know you would prefer a commie type of government *points to your name* but low paying jobs will often result in lower moral and lower productivity. It's kind of like a communist type of government to where no matter how much or how hard you work you still get paid the same as the next guy, why try?

You make a new law; just imagine how many people are going to want that job? It's like how almost every government job or most jobs in Democratic States suffer from the worst employment and the worst job markets not to mention your Democratic Governors now want a bail out for many social failed policies they don't want to stop.

@richcreamerybutter:

Again, this is what happens when you have people working on a Federal Holiday.

@rpm773:

At least you didn't have to get up at 2 AM the next morning on New Years. Seriously, does any job expect great productivity on a day like that?

Darwin wins.