Detroit transit officials trot out new video showing moment 2 horses boarded public bus
Detroit DOT released the bus onboard camera video following a review.
Newly released surveillance footage shows the moment two horses briefly boarded a public bus in Detroit in the now-viral horseplay.
Following a review of the incident, the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) released onboard camera video showing the bus pull up to the stop Saturday afternoon, where two men were seated atop the saddled horses.
"Hey, I see y'all, my brothers. That's what I'm talking about," the driver can be heard saying in the onboard video as he pulls up to the bus stop.
The driver can be heard talking to the horse wranglers, who say they want to come in.
"Hey look, if they can get in here, it is what it is," the driver says, laughing.
The driver lowers the wheelchair ramp in an attempt to help the horses board, though ultimately brings it back up.
"Hey, I won't get in trouble, though?" the driver says. "It's a service animal?"
"Yep," one of the men boarding with the horses responds.
The horses are led through the nearly empty bus, then immediately exit through the rear doors.
"Y'all be good, man. That's crazy," the bus driver can be heard saying as he closes the doors to the bus.
One of the men with the horses can be heard yelling, "Thanks for the ride," before the bus pulls away.
At least one other passenger could be seen on the bus, appearing to film the stunt.
A woman who was driving down 7 Mile also stopped to film the incident, capturing the horses boarding and exiting the bus near Strasburg Street.
"I was thinking, like, 'Oh my God, like what about the people on the bus? What if the horse used the bathroom on the bus? Like, what's going on?'" the woman, Ellessia Drew, told ABC Detroit affiliate WXYZ.
After her video went viral on social media, DDOT said it was "taking appropriate steps to address this incident as it is not consistent with DDOT policy and potentially creates an unsafe and uncomfortable ride for our passengers."
The horses' owner, Jordan Williams, with the group Urban City Cowboys, told WXYZ that when he saw the bus pull up, he asked the driver if he could take his "service animal" on board for a video, with the goal of highlighting Black cowboys in Detroit.
"The point is just to bring light to the city that there are cowboys that look like us," Williams told WXZY.
DDOT said in a statement Friday that it has reviewed the social media and onboard camera footage and that while it "welcomes service animals to ride the bus when they meet the requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it appears that these horses were brought on the bus for other reasons."
"We recognize that the actions in the video were meant to draw awareness to a positive cause, however, we also acknowledge that this presented safety concerns for other passengers on public transit and for the horses themselves," DDOT said.
The department said the incident is an "opportunity to retrain DDOT bus operators and to educate our Detroit residents on everything that we are doing to guarantee safe, timely and high-quality service through DDOT."
Related Topics
Popular Reads
ABC News Live