Sick-Out By Detroit Bus Drivers
Some Detroit Department of Transportation bus riders were stuck waiting at stops early Saturday morning because of a driver "sick-out."
70 out of 133 buses were on the roads Saturday, according to Director of the Detroit Department of Transportation, Lovette Williams.
"There are buses on every route, so the bus will be there to pick them up, but they are going to be experiencing long delays," Williams told WWJ's Pat Vitale in a live interview.
Williams said the delays could be an hour or two hours.
"Right now, we are not sure of the reason, but we have had what is being called a sick out from a number of DDOT driver," Detroit Mayoral spokeswoman Karen Dumas told WWJ Saturday morning. "As a result we are operating at about 50% capacity across the city."
Dumas says bus operators are "re-assigning" existing buses across the entire system and SMART buses are helping to "accomodate for the shortfall."
Calls to the union president, Henry Gaffney, were not returned.
Officials weren't sure why the drivers didn't show for work. But Williams said they may have called in sick to attend Saturday's funeral of a well-known city bus driver, or to protest the city's refusal to allow them to drape a bus in memory of that driver.
It's unclear how many riders are affected, however thousands of people ride city buses each day.
© MMX WWJ Radio, All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
