TTC SUBSTANCE TESTING WON'T START TILL AUGUST

It Took Police Breathalyzer to Take Bus Driver Off the Road Friday

A year and a half after the TTC approved a controversial drug- and
alcohol-testing policy for employees, new testing procedures are still
not in effect.

A screening test for new hires was introduced last month. But the part
of the fitness-for-duty policy that would have allowed the TTC to
administer breathalyzer and oral fluid tests to the bus driver who had
her licence suspended Friday won't go into effect until August.

Police gave the driver a breathalyzer test at about 2:30 p.m. and
suspended her after passengers on the Dawes Rd. route called in complaints.

While not legally over the blood-alcohol limit, she was found to have
consumed enough to fall within the "warn" range of 50 to 80 milligrams
in 100 millilitres of blood, warranting a 72-hour licence suspension.

The transportation ministry says that at that level, a driver may have
decreased perception of colours, depth and motion, a decreased ability
to perform simple motor functions, and slower reaction time.

The bus driver has been suspended indefinitely without pay pending a
TTC investigation, transit officials said yesterday.

Under the TTC's new policy, workers who are suspected by their
supervisor of being impaired on the job, or who have been involved in
an incident, will receive an oral fluid swab and take a breathalyzer
test, a program coordinator said Tuesday.

But those tests aren't in place because the TTC is still finalizing
its procedures, training supervisors and communicating the policy to
staff, said Nadia Pazzano.

While possession makes substance use obvious in some cases, "the
question of impairment is more difficult," Pazzano said.

"This fitness-for-duty policy is an improvement, in terms of giving us
better tools for investigating."

Until the testing is in place, the TTC has been relying on
supervisors' observations to deem whether a worker is fit for duty.
There's a 28-item checklist of signs including the smell of alcohol,
slurred speech, disorientation, bloodshot eyes, general mood or
dilated pupils.

It's not known if the driver in Friday's incident had any contact with
a supervisor that day.

A supervisor who suspects an employee is impaired is to call another
supervisor to confirm the observations. The worker is immediately
removed from duty, said Pazzano.

That will continue when testing begins, even if a breathalyzer
immediately shows the driver hasn't been drinking, she said, because
it takes up to three days to have the swabs analyzed for marijuana,
cocaine, opiates, phencyclidine and amphetamines.

A decline in such incidents over the past year proves changes already
undertaken are working, said TTC chair Adam Giambrone.

In the past year there have been only one or two, he said, compared
with the 39 incidents of drug and alcohol impairment over a two-year
period that were listed in a report in 2008.

"The other planks have gone into effect and they're working," he said.
"A lot of this is about very clear supervisory changes; it was about
culture change."

The TTC introduced the substance-abuse policy following the death of a
subway maintenance worker in April 2007. Antonio Almeida was killed
and two other workers seriously injured after the work car Almeida was
in derailed when a piece of equipment got caught on the subway wall.

It was discovered that Almeida had drugs in his system at the time. He
had also been caught using drugs before the accident but was returned
to the job without sufficient follow-up.

Friday's incident isn't enough reason for the commission to reconsider
its 2008 decision against random screening, Giambrone said.

But former transit commissioner Michael Thompson, city councillor for
Ward 37, Scarborough Centre, said random testing would be a deterrent
to those tempted to drink or use drugs on duty.

"It's another measure of security," he said. "It would provide riders
with a better sense that the system is being monitored."

Although random testing is common in the United States, only one other
Canadian transit agency uses it. That's in Windsor, where bus drivers
cross the border.

That it's not common practice in Canada isn't a reason to avoid it,
Thompson said.

But someone careless enough to drive a bus while under the influence
probably won't change their behaviour because of another layer of
testing, said Graeme Norton, project director with the Canadian Civil
Liberties Association.

"Your job as an employee is to report fit for duty," said Giambrone,
adding that there is an employee assistance program workers can turn
to if they have problems with drinking or drug use.

Workers suffering extreme fatigue, which can also impair their
fitness, are expected to call in sick.

Friday's incident follows other recent controversies involving TTC
workers. In January, a TTC worker was photographed sleeping in his
collector booth at McCowan station. A month later, a rider videotaped
a TTC bus driver leaving his passengers in a bus with the doors open
during a lengthy, unscheduled coffee break.

Later that month, the commission announced initiatives to improve
relations with customers, including a new customer service advisory
panel.