- Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) inspection of a Jackson Area Transportation Authority (JATA) bus reveals "several safety concerns" — concerns former JATA employees say were ignored.
- Concerns were previously noted by JATA mechanics and relayed to JATA's Board of Directors by JATA driver Terrence Hill at a meeting in April, and we reported what JATA mechanics told us about problems with the frames of Buses 475 and 477 in May.
- WATCH THE VIDEO for remarks by two former JATA employees who say they knew of safety concerns and that reports about them were disregarded, as well as reactions of JATA CEO Mike Brown and Board Member Jessica Embury to questions about the two buses.
STORY UPDATE includes a statement from JATA CEO Mike Brown and additional documents regarding inspection(s) of Buses 475 and 477.
A Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) inspection at Jackson Area Transportation Authority (JATA) has confirmed some of the safety concerns that JATA mechanics say went ignored.
JATA CEO Mike Brown says they were not ignored — but were not substantiated by inspectors.
"I reported separated frames on Bus 475 and 477 back in month of 5-21 of '23," says Calvin Bioty, a former JATA mechanic who worked at JATA from March 2023 to August of this year. He says his maintenance reports on the two buses were met with denial.
He recounts how management "said I wasn't qualified to make that decision on saying that the buses were unsafe."
Former JATA Community Relations Manager and Chief Safety Officer Patrick O'Dowd left the organization in September, citing similar concerns about mechanics not being heard.
"They told their direct manager: 'We've got problems. These buses aren't safe for the road'. And those concerns were swept under the rug," says O'Dowd.
I personally saw both buses in service right here at the JATA Transit Center first-hand as recently as late August.
And now, it looks like some of those concerns have been validated.
My sources at JATA told me an MDOT inspector inspected Bus 477 on November 7th. I reached out to MDOT for information. MDOT told me the courtesy inspection was done at the request of JATA through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
As for what it revealed, a statement I received from MDOT reads, in part:
"MDOT did find several safety concerns on a 2008 JATA bus, including a rusted frame rail that put this bus out-of-service. MDOT recommends the agency take immediate corrective action with this bus and with any other vehicles in their fleet."
I have tried to sit down with JATA CEO Mike Brown for months — and have repeatedly been ignored or referred, instead, to JATA's legal counsel, Andrew Brege. I approached Brown after JATA's most recent board meeting with questions about the buses.
I asked him: "Mr. Brown….Buses 475 and 477 are reported to have separated frames by your mechanics. Have those frames been fixed?"
His response: "I have no comments for you today."
My follow-up: "You have no comments about whether the frames are fixed? Because those buses are on the road, Sir, and mechanics have said they're not roadworthy. You don't have any comment on that?"
MDOT says JATA has advised it that both 475 and 477 have now been taken out of service until they can be repaired. It also notes that a local repair shop had given those buses a passing grade in June.
JATA CEO Mike Brown has confirmed that Buses 475 and 477 have been taken out of service following inspections "to have the springs repaired" [his emphasis]. The frames of the buses were not found to be "significantly damaged or seriously compromised", but "recommendations for repair" were made, reads the statement from Brown:
Communication forwarded to me by Brown between MDOT and JATA shows that MDOT inspections of Buses 475 and 477 were requested by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and that dates were specified by MDOT on which the two buses should be made available for inspection.
In a clarification email I received from MDOT, Deputy Communications Director Michael Frezell says only Bus 477 was inspected by MDOT. Bus 475 was not available for inspection, says Frezell.
According to Frezell, one of the problems identified on Bus 477 was "rust jacking of the axle frame". Frezell says JATA acknowledged to MDOT that Bus 475 has the same problem, and informed MDOT that both will be out of service for repairs.
The MDOT inspection report:
Brown notes in his statement that a local repair shop — "Complete Truck Repair" — found no problems with the frames of the two buses in June of this year. He sent me a copy of the report on that inspection, which I also received from MDOT:
WATCH OUR PREVIOUS STORIES ABOUT SAFETY CONCERNS AT JATA HERE AND HERE.
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