www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20 -
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Published on: 8/19/2009
Last Visited: 8/26/2009
DART policy states that drivers cannot choose which buses they drive, DART General Manager Brad Miller said.
"Drivers are not permitted to reject a working bus," Miller said.
"It's a very fundamental policy for DART. ... It's an essential rule that we will maintain."
This is in part because of a federal law that requires DART to rotate buses to different routes on a regular basis and because buses must run on time, he said.
"DART's No. 1 priority is to provide a reliable, quality, safe service," Miller said.
"We may try to work with them, but if we're short on drivers, we need to get them out on a bus."
Passengers on the bus Shiel was to drive had to wait about five minutes for a substitute driver to be brought out to continue her route, he said.
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Miller said he has heard of a handful of fairgoers who have bypassed buses with the ad and waited for another.
"I would anticipate with revising our advertising policy that we will see additional advertisers that people may not agree with ... but they need to understand it's people's right," Miller said.