JTA fumigates bus after rider finds clump of roaches

Action News Jax is hearing from the Jacksonville Transportation Authority about roaches on one of its buses.

We first showed video and pictures of the pests on Monday night, and we are looking at the steps JTA is taking to resolve the issue.

Bus passenger Elijh Williams said he was sitting on a JTA bus when he saw a clump of roaches. JTA said after speaking with him, it took the bus out of service

JTA leaders and Williams met Tuesday to discuss the roaches. Williams sent us video of what he had to deal with on a bus ride last month.

"One was crawling on my leg," Williams said.

Williams said he was grossed out and called JTA.

"I first contacted the bus driver that was driving the bus and after speaking with her, she told me to contact JTA and I spoke with the gentleman. He said they were going to investigate it," Williams said.

But he said he still saw roaches so he wrote to JTA on Facebook. We asked JTA public relations manager Leigh Ann Rassler why it took so long to take the bus out of service. She said there was a miscommunication about what bus the roaches were discovered on.

"We were like, what's going on here, we need to pull this bus and check this out," Rassler said.

"I guess there was a miscommunication because when it first happened, I gave a very detailed message," Williams said.

JTA said the bus was pulled out of service and was fumigated. Williams said he's glad the issue is being dealt with and hopes JTA can keep up with problems like this in the future.

JTA said the bus will be inspected one more time and cleaned before being put back in service.

JTA said bus drivers are supposed to inspect buses every night and report problems they see. They also say they fumigate for bugs every quarter but will look into that and see if that needs to be done more often, especially during the summer months.

Cox Media Group