Charlotte Area Transit System Chief Executive John Lewis said he wants to expand de-escalation training for bus drivers after reviewing video of slain driver Ethan Rivera and a motorist who police say killed him. The video shows Rivera was shot after they shouted at each other for about 25 seconds.
“There is no action that takes place that results in the taking of life. That is first and foremost,” Lewis said in an interview with WFAE. “But looking back at the video footage and what actually happened there were multiple policies and procedures that were not followed.”
Lewis said he wants CATS drivers to learn from what happened on Feb. 11, when Rivera was shot and killed.
“We’re going to highlight that, we’re going to make sure our operators understand what our expectations are and what the rules of operation are so that hopefully, this kind of incident will not repeat itself.”
Since the fatal shooting of Rivera, drivers have said they don’t feel safe and that the city hasn’t listened to their complaints.
They have said they need more security, that some bus radios don’t work and response times are too long when there’s an emergency.
One drivertold City Council: “We’ve had a driver to get killed — right here, on our city streets. Shot in the head. That could have been me.”
Lewis said he is working to make things better. But he also addressed the bus security camera video of what led to the Feb. 11 killing.
Video from inside the bus shows Rivera tried to change lanes on West Trade Street when the driver of a black SUV in that lane starts honking at him.
When both vehicles approached a red light, Rivera stopped his bus short so he was in line with the SUV, whose driver police said was 21-year-old Darian Dru Thavychith. Rivera shouts and curses at the driver for about 25 seconds; the other driver shouts back.
Rivera was shot after he closed the door to drive forward in a left-hand turn lane. Thavychith has been charged with murder.
After Rivera was shot, the bus — which was carrying four passengers — rolled forward for 40 seconds on West Trade Street before crashing into a self-pay parking machine and a parked car.
Lewis said he understands drivers are stressed, in part due to the pandemic.
But he said a driver’s priority must be getting passengers safely to their destination.
“And you can’t do that if you are engaging with people externally," Lewis said. “Focus on the job at hand get your passengers where they need to go.”
Lewis said there are only three reasons for a bus operator to open a door: To let passengers on and off, when stopping at a railroad crossing and he third reason, he said, is if there’s bad weather and opening the door helps the driver see.
He said a driver should never open his door to shout at a motorist.
Former CATS bus driver Alvy Hughes is a vice president with the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation (SMART) union that represents CATS bus drivers.
When asked about Lewis’ comments that Rivera violated policies, Hughes declined to comment.
“I haven’t seen the video,” Hughes said. “If there were any violations or any work orders that were violated I haven’t seen it in its entirety so I couldn’t really answer that question.”
But he said drivers were scared before Rivera’s death. CATS said there have been 57 assaults on drivers in the last five years.
“We’ve been having problems with security, safety, the radios, the panic buttons on the buses and also the response times,” Hughes said.
One driver told WFAE that people sometimes shoot BB guns at buses.
Lewis said de-escalation is part of a seven-week training class that all drivers take before going to work. He said drivers are taught to defuse confrontations with passengers over potential problems like someone not having enough money to pay for a fare. During the pandemic, mask-wearing also became a potential flashpoint, he said.
One driver, Edjuana Paige, confirmed in an interview that drivers must take de-escalation training when they are hired. After that, she says it’s only required when “you get called in for some kind of reprimand.”
Lewis said CATS may make that training more frequent — even for veteran drivers. Lewis said he wants to consult with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, which has expanded its training to help officers deal with volatile situations. CMPD has hired a private consultant, the DiJulius Group, to improve customer service.
CATS bus drivers officially work for a private management company so they can bargain collectively for a new contract. (In North Carolina, public sector employees are prohibited from bargaining collectively.)
Lewis said CATS has met with the union and management company and agreed to some changes.
They include: Immediately pulling a bus from service if its radio doesn’t work. The transit system recently conducted an audit of bus radios and found that 11 were broken.
CATS said it will have more police and private security at the transit center, and on some bus routes. And it plans to offer retention bonuses to current employees.
Some drivers have called for bulletproof glass for protection.
CATS has said there are no bulletproof shields available on buses currently available.
Sarah Delia contributed to this report.
