Racist incident from a bus driver in Glasgow- what to do?

krissy08

I am a masters student living in paisley but commuting to the University in Glasgow. I have a bus pass with my photo covering my travel to and from school usually for evening lessons. The Mcgills bus driver for Bus 20A drove past me one evening as I flagged him down. I never forget a face and he stared right at me but did not stop and drove right past me.  On a subsequent evening, the same driver asked me for ID as I boarded the bus and when I showed him, he made mocking faces at me (no other passengers could see this) and accused me of using someone else's ID saying my ID card doesn't look like me.He then asked me to step off the bus. I asked him to look at all the IDs and other id such as my bank card to compare , that it was me but he never even looked at the card, kept on making the mocking faces at me that no one else could see. Embarrassed I stepped out of the bus. It was the last one home and I had to walk 20 minutes to an alternative bus. I reported the incident to the McGill's head office but got this reply; after my initial report and on confirming bus numbers and times and direction of travel, I got this; Thank you for your reply. I can confirm that your comments are now being investigated by the Manager at Johnstone Depot and as soon as this investigation is complete you will be contacted regarding the outcome and any subsequent action that may be taken to resolve this issue.  Please note that the Depot Manager has a maximum of seven days to reply to Customer Services. subsequently I then got this; Good Afternoon,  I am emailing you in regards to your recent correspondence with my colleague Lxxx Grxxxx. We have now had the opportunity too investigate your comments and advise the following. The Depot Manager has now had the opportunity to identify the driver concerned and he was interviewed at length.  During this interview our driver stated that when you boarded the bus and showed your matriculation card, our driver asked if you were the person in the picture because it did not look like you; this had nothing to do with racism.   As you confirmed that it was not you in the picture then our driver was correct in asking you to leave the bus as you were attempting to use the matriculation card fraudulently. I would like to assure you that it does clearly state in our T&C’s that any passenger who does attempt to use a card fraudulently on any of our services can be asked to depart the vehicle or pay for another fare. Thank you once again for your comments and allowing us the opportunity to investigate the matter accordingly. Kind regards,  That's it. Needless to say, I remain very upset- they seem to have deliberately misunderstood my initial report and have taken sides with their driver. I don't want this to happen to any other person as I felt very upset, lonely and scared. I never showed my matriculation card- why would I- I showed my student ID card which has always been fine with every other person, driver or not and looks just like me. am a black female living in Glasgow for the first time. Can I do anything?

_Penny_Dreadful

krissy08 said:

I am a masters student living in paisley but commuting to the University in Glasgow. I have a bus pass with my photo covering my travel to and from school usually for evening lessons. The Mcgills bus driver for Bus 20A drove past me one evening as I flagged him down. I never forget a face and he stared right at me but did not stop and drove right past me.  On a subsequent evening, the same driver asked me for ID as I boarded the bus and when I showed him, he made mocking faces at me (no other passengers could see this) and accused me of using someone else's ID saying my ID card doesn't look like me.He then asked me to step off the bus. I asked him to look at all the IDs and other id such as my bank card to compare , that it was me but he never even looked at the card, kept on making the mocking faces at me that no one else could see. Embarrassed I stepped out of the bus. It was the last one home and I had to walk 20 minutes to an alternative bus. I reported the incident to the McGill's head office but got this reply; after my initial report and on confirming bus numbers and times and direction of travel, I got this; Thank you for your reply. I can confirm that your comments are now being investigated by the Manager at Johnstone Depot and as soon as this investigation is complete you will be contacted regarding the outcome and any subsequent action that may be taken to resolve this issue.  Please note that the Depot Manager has a maximum of seven days to reply to Customer Services. subsequently I then got this; Good Afternoon,  I am emailing you in regards to your recent correspondence with my colleague Lxxx Grxxxx. We have now had the opportunity too investigate your comments and advise the following. The Depot Manager has now had the opportunity to identify the driver concerned and he was interviewed at length.  During this interview our driver stated that when you boarded the bus and showed your matriculation card, our driver asked if you were the person in the picture because it did not look like you; this had nothing to do with racism.   As you confirmed that it was not you in the picture then our driver was correct in asking you to leave the bus as you were attempting to use the matriculation card fraudulently. I would like to assure you that it does clearly state in our T&C’s that any passenger who does attempt to use a card fraudulently on any of our services can be asked to depart the vehicle or pay for another fare. Thank you once again for your comments and allowing us the opportunity to investigate the matter accordingly. Kind regards,  That's it. Needless to say, I remain very upset- they seem to have deliberately misunderstood my initial report and have taken sides with their driver. I don't want this to happen to any other person as I felt very upset, lonely and scared. I never showed my matriculation card- why would I- I showed my student ID card which has always been fine with every other person, driver or not and looks just like me. am a black female living in Glasgow for the first time. Can I do anything?

I’m not certain that McGill’s has misunderstood your complaint. The driver is saying you used someone else’s ID and that’s why he asked you to leave the bus. The manager wasn’t there so it’s a he-said-she-said situation. You say the driver was racist meanwhile he claims he wasn’t racist and turns it back round on you. As you are unhappy with the response from McGills you can escalate the matter to Bus Users UK. You may also want to contact Police Scotland since it appears to have been racially motivated. 

You live in Paisley and commute to Glasgow, there is the train and several bus services so is it possible for you to use another service for commuting between the two cities on the grounds that McGills do not deserve your custom? 

https://www.transport.gov.scot/public-transport/buses/bus-complaints/

https://www.scotland.police.uk/contact-us/reporting-hate-crime/

oldernonethewiser

If the bus driver thought the photo on your card did not look like you then that is not racist. 

Why did McGills write " our driver asked if you were the person in the picture because it did not look like you; this had nothing to do with racism.   As you confirmed that it was not you in the picture"?  Was the picture of another person?

What kind of bank card do you have that has your picture on it?

krissy08

oldernonethewiser said:

If the bus driver thought the photo on your card did not look like you then that is not racist. 

Why did McGills write " our driver asked if you were the person in the picture because it did not look like you; this had nothing to do with racism.   As you confirmed that it was not you in the picture"?  Was the picture of another person?

What kind of bank card do you have that has your picture on it?

No idea why their response would say this- I never confirmed I was not the one in the photo it was me.

I offered all the cards in my wallet including my bank card because the names are all one and the same. The photo looks exactly like me and he would have seen this if he even looked at the ID. He never did.

oldernonethewiser

You should challenge the response from McGills stating that you did not say what they allege.

The names being the same is no useful indication of the identity of a person unfortunately. 

It seems as if they consider the matter closed. 

HampshireH

Don't all buses have cctv on now?. Ask if that formed part of their investigation as it wouldn't surprise me if the driver is on camera. (To protect them from abuse)

JReacher1

I would appeal and clearly state the facts which don’t match what the driver said. I would also offer to provide a copy of your matriculation card and clarify that  although you didn’t present this to the driver it is still clearly you. 

smudge56

All McGills buses have onboard cameras for security reasons.  

Spendless

Email back and say you do not have anyone else's card in your possession , so would not and did not offer someone elses or say that a card wasn't yours. Say you would like to arrange a meeting at the local depot so you can show your photo ID card in person to the depot manager. Also ask if  any CCTV on the bus shows what actually happened.

My guess is the bus driver has made up you were using someone else's ID as justification for kicking you off to his bosses. 

Pollycat

I too would contact the bus company and clearly state what happened, being clear that you did not, at any time, show any ID that did not belong to you.

Unfortunately I think you have just muddied the waters by claiming racism when there doesn't appear to have been any racism.

baser999

Clearly the driver had an issue with the ID that OP produced which sadly OP seems to be turning into one of racism. If OP had been white, would they have adopted the same stance? Can’t see any evidence in their post that beyond refusing their ID there was any form of racism