A Times-Union investigation of Jacksonville Transportation Authority bus drivers found dozens with criminal records and also unearthed drivers who were cited for driving with suspended licenses while continuing to drive buses.

The Times-Union checked the driving and criminal histories of the 330 people employed as bus drivers in November. The investigation found 258 of those drivers had a total of 1,276 criminal and driving violations going back to the 1970s. Some had as many as 20 offenses on their record.

Violations include domestic battery, child abuse, driving without a valid license and writing bad checks.

The Times-Union found

» 34 had more than five driving citations before they were hired.

» 12 had been arrested for violent crimes, such as domestic battery and child abuse, before being hired.

» 13 were cited for driving with a suspended, revoked or invalid license while driving after they were employed.

Slideshow: See 41 of the worst offenders

The newspaper’s investigation began after a passenger was run over and killed downtown by a JTA bus in October seconds after he’d gotten off the bus. The driver, who had a history of accidents, was later fired.

A second driver was fired in 2010 after he was accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl on his bus. JTA records showed that driver had been reprimanded in 2001, but not fined or suspended, for making inappropriate advances on a 15-year-old girl.

JTA Executive Director Michael Blaylock said he was unaware of the background problems until the Times-Union investigation began. He promised major changes.

“I have to accept full responsibility for this,” Blaylock said. “And the [JTA] board expects me to fix it.”

Board member Steve Diebenow referred questions to JTA staff when contacted Friday. Others on the seven-member board, appointed by the mayor and the governor to oversee the JTA operation and to hire its executive director, could not be reached for comment.

It’s estimated that about 25,000 people ride JTA buses every month, although that number is hard to determine because every time someone boards a bus they’re counted as a separate rider, meaning if someone gets on three buses in one day they’re counted three times.

JTA began offering busing to magnet students in the Duval County public schools last year. Blaylock said there are no restrictions that prohibit bus drivers with criminal records from driving the routes that magnet students take, but that will also be looked at.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-02-18/story/t-u-investiga...