Man arrested after video shows TTC driver being yelled and sworn at

A Toronto man is facing multiple charges after a TTC driver was berated for half an hour in an incident captured on video and being condemned as racist and misogynistic by transit leaders as well as the city's mayor.

The charges stem from an incident that took place on Sept. 6, in the Drewry Avenue and Bathurst Street area in North York, police said in a news release Wednesday.

A TTC driver had stopped at around 10:45 a.m. and was attempting to reposition her bus before allowing passengers to board, police said. That's when a man ran across the intersection and started to punch the bus, and yell and swear at the driver to open the doors.

The driver wouldn't let the man on due to his aggressive behaviour, police said, and the man began to record the interaction while standing in front of the bus.

In a 30-minute video of the incident shared on social media, a man is seen filming himself yelling at the driver as well as turning the camera toward her, using racist and misogynistic language while repeatedly stating that he's a taxpayer and demanding to be let on the bus.

The driver then let some of the passengers off the bus including the man, who got on and continued with his behaviour, police say. The driver then told her passengers that the bus was no longer in service, and the man eventually left.

Police say that on Tuesday, a 38-year-old man was arrested and charged with mischief, intimidation and causing a disturbance. He was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday morning.

Marvin Alfred, president of ATU Local 113 — the union that represents TTC drivers — said Wednesday that he thought the charges weren't serious enough, and pushed for increased consequences for people who act this way with drivers. 

"We feel that such hateful, criminal, misogynistic, racist behaviour should be reflected as a hate crime," Alfred said. "We know that this situation is not acceptable anywhere. It's not acceptable in a bank, it's not acceptable anywhere else in society — why is it acceptable and tolerated in transit?"

TTC CEO Rick Leary similarly denounced the incident when speaking with reporters at an event Wednesday.

"I'm appalled at what I saw [on the video]," Leary said. "It was just absolutely disgusting."

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said she spoke with the driver the morning after the incident to offer her support, and to tell her incidents like this should never happen in the city.

"I thank her for her service and I apologize on behalf of the city of Toronto [for] what she endured," Chow said.