JTA CEO speaks out about crash that killed Mayport mother

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For the first time since Saturday’s city bus crash that left a woman dead, JTA CEO Nat Ford spoke out about the incident.

“It’s been challenging since we received a call on Saturday regarding this incident. Our hearts sunk,” Ford said.

Jeanie Rozar was dragged to death by the bus in Mayport. Witnesses told Action News Jax her arm got entangled in the bus door before the incident.

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The bus operator, Jean Silney, was fired for violating JTA operator work rules. He had been with JTA since 2007.

When asked if the incident could’ve been prevented, Ford said the chances of an accident or incident are minimized if the policies and procedures in the training JTA provides are followed.

“This individual did not follow the procedures that we have outlined for the safe operation of the transit vehicle,” Ford said.

Following the incident, Ford said managers met with each bus operator individually to reemphasize the importance of safety.

“The goal number one is a safety and security of our passengers,” Ford said.

He said bus operators receive a great deal of training and they will continue to look at opportunities to increase training.

Action News Jax obtained Silney’s personnel file which revealed a history of complaints and issues.

In 2013, he hit a bicyclist in a crosswalk, according to documents.

In 2018, Silney was terminated after nearly running over the supervisor who had confronted him about arriving at stops early.

Through the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the unions, in this case, the ATU, Silney had the right to appeal the discipline through a grievance.

Silney was given a hearing in front of an arbitrator, which is a JTA senior manager, to discuss the details.

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The JTA senior manager reduced the discipline from a discharge from a termination to a 30-day suspension without pay.

Ford said they questioned the manager’s decision following the crash and he resigned Wednesday.

He said they will reexamine the grievance procedures and contract negotiations with the union in the future to see if any changes need to be implemented.

“The last thing we want to occur is that one of our passengers is injured or, in this particular case, loses their life trying to use our [transit] system,” Ford said.

• Officials say Jean Silney was driving the JTA bus when Jeanie Rozar, a local woman, was dragged and run over Saturday
• A witness told Action News Jax that Rozar's arm got caught in the door of the bus
• Silney was fired Monday after JTA said he violated JTA operator work rules
• Silney was fired in December 2018 and brought back in January, according to his personnel file
• As part of collective bargaining agreements JTA has with unions, Silney appealed his discipline and a JTA manager rehired him. The manager who rehired Silney resigned on Wednesday
• When asked if the accident could've been prevented, JTA CEO Nat Ford said the chances of an accident or incident are minimized if the policies and procedures in the training JTA provides are followed. Ford said Silney failed to follow JTA's policies and procedures to the letter.

READ: Portion of Silney's JTA personnel file

READ: Complaints against Silney from 2017 to 2019

READ: Maintenance records for JTA bus 1613 for Jan. 2019 through June 2019

Cox Media Group