Union representatives and mechanics at the Gun Hill Road Depot say they uncovered dozens of MTA buses that had been flagged for serious maintenance problems yet were still rolled out onto Bronx streets, including vehicles with brake linings that one worker said were worn down to bare metal. The discovery has put fresh heat on the agency over how it juggles tight schedules with basic rider safety.
Transport Workers Union Local 100 says 23 buses were “redlined,” meaning marked in maintenance logs for defects, before being sent into service, and that 21 of those 23 were later found to have brake defects and pulled from operation, according to FOX 5 NY. Union leaders laid out brake pads and automated vehicle monitoring readouts at the depot and warned that worn brakes on a city bus could spell disaster for anyone in the vehicle’s path.
What Inspectors Say They Found at Gun Hill Depot
As reported by the Bronx Times, union auditors reviewed automated vehicle monitoring reports and said that most of the 23 buses showed no repair work orders until union reps went in and physically inspected a sample. Mechanics who lifted the buses and checked them by hand then reported finding worn linings along with caliper and sensor faults, and only after that, according to the union, were repairs logged for most of the fleet.
Union Pushes Management and the MTA Board
Local 100 President John V. Chiarello told reporters outside Gun Hill that the union plans to keep dropping in for surprise depot audits and will keep pressing the MTA to open and complete work orders before any bus is cleared to roll back into service. The union highlighted its interview and comments to the board on TWU Local 100.
A Close Call in December
Critics keep pointing to a Bronx crash last December, when a Bx6 bus with a documented history of brake complaints crashed into several cars after being cleared for service, as detailed by the New York Daily News. The incident, along with a wider tally of unresolved work orders turned up in recent investigations, is exactly the sort of failure union leaders say their depot inspections are trying to head off.
Staffing, Policy and the MTA Response
The union also blames a roughly 10% shortage of bus mechanics for leaving depots scrambling to keep up with needed repairs, a figure Local 100 leaders cited to FOX 5 NY. The MTA pushed back, saying that “No bus enters service with a known safety issue” and that it follows long-established maintenance protocols. According to the Bronx Times, agency maintenance chiefs called an emergency meeting after the union’s audit and said they would write clearer rules on brake wear…