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Transit chief: Operators will be barred from bringing cellphones aboard

E-mail|Link|Comments () May 9, 2009 07:12 PM

(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff)

The existing MBTA rule, which the poster was developed to publicize, bars operators from using their cellphones. The new rule would bar operators from bringing the devices on board.

By Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff

MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas said today he would ban the possession of cellphones by the operators of trolleys, trains, and buses on the public transit system, after a trolley crash Friday night that officials believe happened when a driver was texting on his cellphone.

Daniel A. Grabauskas

"Leave it at home. Leave it in your car. Leave it with a friend. Leave it in a locker. But you are not to get on board that bus, or board a trolley, or a train to operate that train and have a cellphone on your person or in the cab. Period," he said.

"This is going to be a true zero-tolerance policy," he said. "If you are found in possession of a cellphone while in the course of your duties … you will be terminated."

Passengers were startled, screaming, and more than a few were bloodied when the collision between two trolleys occurred without warning at 7:18 p.m. on the Green Line near Government Center. The operator of one trolley was text-messaging his girlfriend when his trolley smashed into the trolley in front of him, the Globe reported this morning. Forty-nine people were hurt, but none of the injuries were life-threatening.

The MBTA Transit Police are investigating the accident and have been in touch with the district attorney's office to determine if the trolley driver should face criminal charges, Grabauskas said. He identified the driver as a 24-year-old male who has been employed by the MBTA for about 22 months and who has one incident on his employment record, a suspension for an attendance issue. An MBTA official who had been briefed on the investigation said the operator was Aiden Quinn of Attleboro. No one answered the door at Quinn's home tonight.

In the wake of the accident, Green Line trolley service was suspended today between the Government Center and Haymarket stations.

At a late afternoon news conference, National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Debbie Hersman said her agency was working with the MBTA to determine the cause of the crash.

"We are going to leave no stones unturned," said Hersman.

Nine NTSB investigators have been assigned to the case. Investigators will scrutinize, among other things, the track, the equipment, the signals, and human performance, she said. Work will continue through the night and the station won't reopen until the MBTA gives the OK.

"The NTSB is aware that Bostonians are eager to get the trains running and we will do everything we can to make this possible," Hersman said.

The NTSB has not been briefed by investigators on the scene, she said, but "is very interested in speaking to the driver."

Under the T's current cellphone policy, the operators were allowed to have cellphones with them but were not allowed to use them. A first offense resulted in a three-day suspension, a second offense resulted in 10 days, and a third offense resulted in termination. In special cases, an operator could be terminated on the first offense, Grabauskas said, noting that the Friday night incident may well be one of those special cases.

Grabauskas said he would allow several days for the T's approximately 6,000 employees to be notified of the new policy and then would implement it.

Stephan G. MacDougall, president of the Boston Carmen's Union, which represents MBTA employees, said he supported the new policy and believed it could be implemented within 24 hours.

"Our obligation to the public, we think, is to embrace this, and not just for public safety or for political reasons. We think it's the right thing to do," he said.

He didn't know if any other transit systems in the nation had a similar policy in place, but he thought it was inevitable that all would have a policy like this.

"I do want to say that this is an act of an individual. This is not some rampant kind of culture that exists with MBTA bus drivers, trolley drivers, train motorpersons," he said.

Meghan Irons of the Globe staff contributed to this report.