NY1 Exclusive: MTA To Change Emergency Response Policy Following Assault On Bus Driver

By: Tina Redwine

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A city bus driver was allegedly assaulted by a passenger and left without police assistance for 30 minutes last week, and officials now say they are changing the MTA’s emergency response policy. NY1’s Tina Redwine filed the following report.

Joseph Cerbone says he was behind the wheel of his Bx55 bus near Fordham Plaza at around 5 a.m. Friday when he was attacked.

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“As he was walking out the door, he turns around fast, he throws a punch, hits me over here and in the back of the head,” says Cerbone.

It’s the first time he's been assaulted in 16 years on the job, and Cerbone says it came out of nowhere.

“Oh, it's scary because when he throws the punch, you don't know if he's going to pull something out or if he’s going to run, and he ran, thank God,” says Cerbone.

The bus driver says his head and neck are still aching, and that's not all.

“I can't even sleep at night. All I think of is what happened,” says Cerbone.

Rather than call 911, Cerbone says he followed Metropolitan Transportation Authority procedure and pressed the emergency call button, which immediately connected him to his command center.

However, representatives at the bus command center didn't call police, either. Instead, the dispatcher sent a supervisor out to see Cerbone. It was only then, half an hour after Cerbone was attacked, that the supervisor asked bus command to call the police.

Cerbone says he's upset because the delay destroyed any chance of catching the person who attacked him.

“Makes me feel I'm working for a company that doesn't appreciate us or me,” says Cerbone.

MTA officials say they’re immediately changing the organization's policy. From now on, bus command will have to call 911 immediately if there's an assault, but Councilman James Vacca, the head of the City Council Transportation Committee, says that's still not good enough.

“It adds a layer onto the process that's going to mean increased response time and an increased likelihood that whoever is attacking our bus drivers will get away,” says Vacca.

The councilman says drivers have to be able to call 911 immediately to increase the odds that anyone who attacks a driver will pay the price.