The city of Jackson administration, along with JTRAN riders, are still looking for answers after the public transit system suspended operations on April 27.JTRAN sent out a rider alert that said:”Effective Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 2:00 pm CST, all JTRAN’s services will be suspended due to expected service delays. Please follow the Transit App and www.ridejtran.com.”After this was sent out, calls flooded the newsroom. “My sources say it was a planned action, it was a sick out essentially,” said Scott Crawford, a rider and disability rights activist. Crawford said the vast majority of JTRAN employees, including operators, support staff, and dispatchers did not come to work. Monday, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said they also don’t what urged the suspension that day. If it was a sick-out, Lumumba said he doesn’t understand why they wouldn’t come to the administration with their concerns. “I have never been a part of a demonstration where the person I was demonstrating against didn’t even know what we were demonstrating about,” said Lumumba. He said while JTRAN belongs to the city, the management is outsourced.”Particularly they’re not city employees, they are employees of that management group, but it is still a service that the city relies on and is something the city is the ultimate investor in,” said Lumumba. The mayor encourages those to come forward if there is an ongoing concern that needs to be investigated. 16 WAPT attempted to get answers Monday, after visiting the JTRAN headquarters on Hwy. 80, we were told to reach out to the cities administration office. Melissa Faith Payne with the city said, “I don’t really have any answers about that situation. No information has been shared with the city.”As for Crawford and others, the alleged sick-out prevented them from getting to work or important doctors appointments.”My concern is that this action put a lot of peoples livelihood on the line,” said Crawford. “From the perspective of the riders we don’t know when or if this could happen again, and that’s scary.”
The city of Jackson administration, along with JTRAN riders, are still looking for answers after the public transit system suspended operations on April 27.
JTRAN sent out a rider alert that said:
“Effective Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 2:00 pm CST, all JTRAN’s services will be suspended due to expected service delays. Please follow the Transit App and www.ridejtran.com.”
After this was sent out, calls flooded the newsroom.
“My sources say it was a planned action, it was a sick out essentially,” said Scott Crawford, a rider and disability rights activist.
Crawford said the vast majority of JTRAN employees, including operators, support staff, and dispatchers did not come to work.
Monday, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said they also don’t what urged the suspension that day. If it was a sick-out, Lumumba said he doesn’t understand why they wouldn’t come to the administration with their concerns.
“I have never been a part of a demonstration where the person I was demonstrating against didn’t even know what we were demonstrating about,” said Lumumba.
He said while JTRAN belongs to the city, the management is outsourced.
“Particularly they’re not city employees, they are employees of that management group, but it is still a service that the city relies on and is something the city is the ultimate investor in,” said Lumumba.
The mayor encourages those to come forward if there is an ongoing concern that needs to be investigated.
16 WAPT attempted to get answers Monday, after visiting the JTRAN headquarters on Hwy. 80, we were told to reach out to the cities administration office.
Melissa Faith Payne with the city said, “I don’t really have any answers about that situation. No information has been shared with the city.”
As for Crawford and others, the alleged sick-out prevented them from getting to work or important doctors appointments.
“My concern is that this action put a lot of peoples livelihood on the line,” said Crawford. “From the perspective of the riders we don’t know when or if this could happen again, and that’s scary.”
