WASHINGTON 鈥� A number of DC Circulator buses have been on the roads this week with expired registrations and insurance cards, according to documents provided to 草莓传媒.
The company that operates the Circulator, under a contract with the District Department of Transportation that is administered by Metro, told a union shop steward in an email Thursday that Metro was 鈥渋n the process of renewing registrations on the buses.鈥�
First Transit鈥檚 DC Circulator General Manager Marvin Greene said in the email provided by the union that the out-of-date insurance cards on a number of buses were simply a mix-up due to a delay in the arrival of updated cards and that drivers were expected to keep operating the buses.
A separate Wednesday memo to drivers on First Transit letterhead acknowledged the issues.
鈥淚t has come to management[‘s] attention that some insurance cards or even bus tags has [sic] expired. Management would like to inform you that we are replacing all cards and tags on the bus, but until all cards and tags has [sic] been replace [sic] just know we have insurance,鈥� the memo on a bulletin board said.
鈥淚n the event that your bus is stop [sic] First Transit will be responsible for any tickets you get due to this [sic] issues,鈥� it promised.
In an interview, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1764 shop steward Flynn 鈥淭iny鈥� Burke said the registrations on 鈥渁bout 15鈥� buses expired at the end of the year, and apparently no action was taken to renew them.
鈥淵ou sent out a memo telling drivers to break the law, and you would pay the ticket. To me, that鈥檚 just crazy,鈥� Burke said, referencing the First Transit memo.
DDOT said it learned of the expired registrations for “approximately 7 DC Circulator buses” 聽from Metro staff this week. 聽As of Friday afternoon, the buses had been removed from service, DDOT鈥檚 Terry Owens said in an email. Burke suggested there might be twice as many buses without the required registrations.
鈥淲MATA is currently reviewing records to determine if there are any additional vehicles that need to be removed from service,鈥� Owens said.
Under the multilayered setup of the system, Owens said Metro is responsible for the registration of all buses since Metro is the project manager for the contract. Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said Metro’s contract with First Transit clearly states the contractor is responsible.
鈥淒DOT is conducting a full investigation to determine how buses with expired registrations were placed into service,鈥� Owens said.
Under, penalties for both drivers and owners of vehicles driven without proper registration can include a fine of up to $1,000 and up to 30 days in jail.
Burke said two drivers who refused to drive buses that were uninsured and unregistered after recognizing the issue in their pre-trip inspections Jan. 1 and Jan. 2 were sent home from work without pay.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e riding an uninsured bus, and you get in an accident and somebody gets hurt it鈥檚 the driver鈥檚 fault at that point because he brought the bus out there. So the ticket goes to the driver, the accident goes to the driver, all the insurance issues go to the driver,鈥� Burke said.
鈥淭he people involved are asking operator(s) to put their license at risk,” he said in an email to Greene, adding “there should be some … form of discipline for all supervisors involved.”
Burke said even if the company paid the driver鈥檚 ticket, the ticket would remain on the driver鈥檚 record.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no reason for us to come into the beginning of a year knowing that the year is going to end, knowing that this is going to expire on the buses. Why didn鈥檛 they start that back at Thanksgiving?鈥� Burke said.
While some First Transit after 草莓传媒 revealed found , and the company , Burke said the buses are now 鈥済oing back down hill again鈥�.
Burke said one driver recently had the gas pedal get stuck down, some tires have tread issues, and some of the newer buses have had some issues with the heating systems. The driver who had the gas pedal get stuck was able to pull it free and get the bus back to the garage.
First Transit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
