Access-A-Ride Van Burns Up on 8th Avenue
We happened to have a birds’ eye view of this event. At 9-ish this morning, an Access-A-Ride van burst into flames on 8th Avenue. The fire department rushed into action and the fire died quickly, and we’re pretty sure no one was hurt. Good job, FDNY. Photo by Lumpasaurus.
We happened to have a birds’ eye view of this event. At 9-ish this morning, an Access-A-Ride van burst into flames on 8th Avenue. The fire department rushed into action and the fire died quickly, and we’re pretty sure no one was hurt. Good job, FDNY.
Photo by Lumpasaurus.
Access-A-Ride is under the MTA however they are not paid by them so they earn $7 dollars an hour to start,are subcontracted out to different co .they have to make their pickups and dropoffs within a certain time or they are fined money for being late . They are a crazy outfit whose routing is done by guys in Texas who have no idea about the city and therefore will schedule a pickup in bklyn for 9am with a dropoff for that same pickup in mid manhattan at 9:07am,pickup in manhattan at 9:15 returning to bklyn by 9:27 all the while not being able to use the fdr drive or certain bridges , roads and parkway including the belt pkway.How do I know? I took a job with them as a driver after losing my job after 9-11. I trained for a couple of days and was put out on the road with a lousy route.it took me from bklyn to manhattan back to bklyn to queens back to manhattan back to bklyn, then queens back to bklyn then manhattan…my break was 40 mins but really no break because my pickup after lunch was in queens so after my manhattan dropoff i drove to queens during my “lunch” break because as the dispatcher likes to remind the drivers….we get fined if you are late.after the nerve wrecking radio check every 5 minutes to know where you are and if you are near your destination, after putting in 4 hours and dealing with the craziness, I went back to the depot,turned in my key, picked up my belongings and quit on my first day.The supervisor ran after me begging me to stay. I told him I cant work under those stressful conditions. Oh , I forgot…when you pick someone up, you are to get off the bus and help the passengers on and off. If you dont, they have inspectors who have your route and wait at the pickup or dropoff location to see if you are following procedure and also write you up if your name tag is crooked or your trip sheet isnt filled out properly or your fares werent noted. So when you see them on the fdr or bklyn bridge or belt,they arent suppose to be there but since they are on a time limit they take a chance with the highway patrol giving them breaks when they are caught.when you see them driving like madmen,it is because the people in Texas who dont know bklyn from staten island have scheduled a 5am pickup in bklyn,5:10 dropoff in manhattan, 5:20 pickup in staten island and 5:30 dropoff in manhattan.constant stress,lousy hours.,lousy shifts that start at 3am and lousy pay. and you wonder why they drive like maniacs and are miserable?now you have an idea why. i would never have lasted with that crap.
speaking as an excellent driver whose car did once blow up and burst into flames, one has nothing to do with the other.
conflagrations happen even to the most careful chauffers.
Access-a-ride is definitely subcontracted out.
it is somehow ‘managed’ by the MTA, though I wouldnt be surprised to learn that they subcontracted that out to smaller independents who keep the highest safety standards. *ahem*
Is Access a Ride a city agency? Maybe we can all complain to them about their dirvers’ unsafe conduct — they are maniacs, and I fear for the safety of their passengers whenver I see them.
Me too. I have many times seen the Access a Ride drivers careening fast and reckless down busy residential streets of Park Slope. I made special note of one just last week on 7th Ave going insanely fast. It’s only a matter of time before one runs over somebody.
So we know that a) they don’t maintain the vehicles, and b) they perform no special screening or training of their drivers and instead hire irresponsible a-holes to drive handicapped people on streets with lots of pedestrians. Is this a city run service or private? Who are these people?
I have to add that I am glad that no one was hurt but again, why are Access-A-Ride drivers so bad. Now another reason to steer clear.
Hopefully nobody was hurt. Those Access-A-Ride drivers are maniacs.
Looks like they are hosing down the part of the bus where the gas tank is. These guys are pros, they know what they’re doing.