Atlanta

Man says he was kicked off MARTA bus after paying fare

By Craig Lucie
By Craig Lucie

ATLANTA — A man has filed a lawsuit against MARTA after he said he was denied a ride on a bus -- after he paid the fare.

Channel 2's Craig Lucie met with the man and his attorney Tuesday afternoon. They showed him the exchange with the MARTA bus driver caught on camera and they said they want to make sure no customer is treated like this again.

James Davenport, 58, was on the back of a MARTA bus at the Avondale Station when a bus driver confronted him April 16. The driver told him to get off.

"It don’t matter if the operator (is) not on the bus, you don’t allow yourself on the bus. It’s like breaking and entering, that’s the rule," Davenport said. "The back door was open."

The bus driver told Davenport he essentially committed a crime even though he tapped his MARTA card to pay and came through an open bus door, Davenport said.

Davenport hired civil rights attorney Craig Jones.

"I was disgusted. (It's) no way to treat people," Jones said.

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Jones filed the lawsuit against MARTA and showed us more video in which the driver can be heard accusing Davenport of prying the door open.

"I went out the back door so if there was an emergency on the bus, she can get out -- that’s why the door was open," Davenport said.

Davenport said the driver refused to give him her name multiple times, closed the door and drove off.

Lucie reached out to MARTA and they said, "MARTA does not comment on pending litigation.”

Davenport, who is legally blind, said he filed the lawsuit so someone doesn’t go through the same experience.

Davenport said he uses the bus late at night and is afraid of having to walk home.

Jones would like his client to be compensated. Davenport said he doesn’t want the driver fired; he just wants her to go through more training.

Cox Media Group

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