VTA Driver Fired
7/13/18
A racial incident on Martha’s Vineyard resulted in a Vineyard Transit Authority bus driver losing his job.
The Vineyard Gazette reports that a VTA driver allegedly refused to pick up a passenger who is black and was waiting for the bus on Route number 13 between Edgartown and Oak Bluffs Wednesday.
35 year old Kevin Brooks told the Gazette that he commutes from New Bedford to the Vineyard every day, where he works as a hairdresser, and was waiting for the bus at his usual stop on Beach Road to take him to the ferry.
Brooks said the bus driver looked at him and just kept driving. Later, in Oaks Bluffs, Brooks caught up with the driver and asked why he didn’t stop for him.
The unidentified driver allegedly replied that it was because Brooks is black and the bus was crowded.
VTA officials say the driver was fired after an investigation.