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The straphanger, who asked not to be identified, shot the video at about 8:45 a.m. Friday on a 7 train that was headed from Woodside, Queens to Grand Central Station. Subway trains stop if the motorman lets go of the controller, but apparently the controller can be operated with only one hand.

"I was a bit perturbed to see that the driver of the train was text messaging and his eyes were on his cell phone and not at all on the tracks," said the man who shot the video.

In the cell phone video, the motorman is seen using his mobile device and not keeping his eyes on the above-ground tracks. He then looks behind at the rider with the camera and then stops operating the mobile device.

"The main reason I am so upset about this is that I was involved in what could have been a very serious car accident at one point in my life because somebody was text messaging," said the video's shooter.

Despite warnings from their own union, train operators and bus drivers have been cited for using mobile devices on the job.

A city transit spokesman said in a statement, "MTA New York City Transit has an absolute, zero-tolerance policy against texting, cell phone use or handling any type of mobile device while in a crew cab. The incident is under investigation and once identified, the train operator will be removed from service pending the disciplinary process."

Riders of the 7 train in Grand Central Station who saw the video on Friday told NY1 they were scared and shocked by the incident. Yet surprisingly, they said the driver should be reprimanded or suspended, but not fired.

"This is disturbing. I don't even feel safe going on this train, to be honest," said one rider. "I don't know what to say, it's disturbing."

"It's a distraction, and he has thousands and thousands of lives at stake. So I think that's not behavior that should be condoned. That should be cracked down upon," said a second.

"It's dangerous and it's not safe," said a third. "It's just like if you're driving a car, you shouldn't do it. I don't think you should be driving a train and doing it either."

MTA officials could suspend the motorman, or fire him if he is a repeat offender.