GARDNER, Mass. — A local bus driver is off the job because of something a rider saw him do behind the wheel.
A passenger snapped several pictures of an unnamed Montachusett Regional Transit Authority (MART) driver talking on the phone and texting while driving passengers around Gardner.
"It's not how you're supposed to drive and stuff,” MART rider Heather Forcier said. "I just think it's irresponsible and it's not safe."
The passenger who took the picture said she was with her husband going to their son’s school on Friday when the driver began using his phone.
"It kept ringing every few minutes and his messenger kept going off and he kept checking it,” she said.
The driver, who has been with the company since it was founded in 1978, has since been taken off the job while the company investigates.
"We take this very seriously and we really appreciate anybody reporting it because we would have never known unless somebody reports it,” Gardner Transportation Services Manager Phil Rocca said.
A full investigation into the incident could take 7-10 days.