TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A passenger recently made a complaint to media outlets about a bus driver leaving the vehicle while on duty to buy lunch, to which the bus company said it will assess the severity of the violation and punish the driver accordingly.

According to the complaint, the passenger took a Taichung City Route 79 bus on Friday (March 18). After the Han-Kou Junior High School bus stop, the driver left the vehicle to buy a lunch box after abruptly announcing his intention to the passengers. The complaining passenger claimed that the driver was gone 10 minutes before he returned and resumed driving.

Hsu Shih-hua (徐世樺), section chief at Taichung’s Public Transportation & Rapid Transit System Office, told CNA that the driver’s behavior had adversely affected passengers’ rights and interests. Therefore, the city’s Transportation Bureau had handed down a penalty to United Highway Bus Co, which operates the route, and demanded the company strengthen driver education and training, Hsu added.

The bus company's Taichung department director, Lin Yuan-kai (林元凱), told CNA that footage from onboard surveillance cameras showed the driver left the bus for three minutes and 25 seconds. He said bus drivers usually have breaks and meal times at the terminal stations of their routes and that the terminal for the driver that day was the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau.

The driver claimed to be a vegetarian and said he had left the bus to get lunch when he did because there are no vegetarian restaurants around the terminal, CNA cited Lin as saying.

The company’s rules prohibit drivers from leaving their buses to shop but allow them to answer the call of nature after notifying passengers, he said, adding that the company was investigating the case and would mete out a punishment based on the severity of the violation.

A teacher surnamed Huang (黃) who is a regular bus rider said bus drivers' need to go to the bathroom or buy meals is understandable and usually does not take long, per CNA. Huang thinks it is harsh to make complaints against drivers fulfilling their physical needs.



Another passenger, a college student surnamed Lee (李), said that instances of bus drivers leaving their vehicles to buy meals show that either their breaks are insufficient or they were delayed by their work; otherwise, it’s rare for them to do so. Lee said they hope the driver would not be punished in this case.