Metro officials say they've found the Metrobus driver filmed unceremoniously heaving a passenger from his ride. Metro spokesperson Dan Stessel says Metro isn't releasing the allegedly grumpy driver's name, and that there's no word on criminal charges against him. "At this point, this is an administrative process," he says.

Video of the incident surfaced Tuesday and made the rounds on news sites, with no one having a clue as to how such an ugly incident could have happened. But now we may know: If you stumble onto a bus, crush a toddler, get mouthy with other passengers, then threaten the driver, you might just get catapulted.

According to an account given to transit cops by the witness who filmed the shoving, it all happened on the U-5 to Lincoln Heights.

On August 31, 2011 at approximately 2031 hours while riding the U-5 bus en route to Lincoln Heights, a male patron boarded in the area of Minnesota Avenue, N.E. being loud and boisterous.  C1 stated that the patron appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance (either narcotics or alcohol) and unsteady on his feet.  While boarding the bus, the patron stumbled and fell onto a female patron that was seated and also fell on top of that patrons 2 year old child.  The female patron became angry and pushed him off of the child at which point he fell to the floor of the bus.  He was then assisted to a seat by a patron exiting the bus.  While seated, he became involved in a verbal altercation with several other patrons.  The patron stood up next to the bus operator and began to threaten him unprovoked.  C1 stated that the bus operator ignored the patron initially however the threats continued.  She stated that the bus operator became frustrated and pulled the bus over to confront the patron and demanded that he exit the bus.  This is the point in which she began to film the incident with her cell phone.

To see what happened from there, just play the vid.

City Desk has asked for updates on whether the driver will be reprimanded in some way, since Stessel earlier said that the driver did the wrong thing, and should have called transit police. We'll add more if we hear back.

A Metrobus driver is in trouble for getting pushy—literally.

Video of a hulky driver shoving a not-so-hulky, maybe even scrawny, rider off a bus surfaced over the holiday weekend, and has WMATA hunting the offending employee. They weren't able to immediately identify the driver from the video, but Metro spokesperson Dan Stessel told NBC Washington that ramming a customer off a bus "is completely inappropriate."

Though there's no indication of how the conflict got started, the video captures the driver opening the doors of the bus and the passenger proclaiming, "I ain't done nothing to nobody, man." The driver thinks different: "Go ahead and get off the bus, now," he orders.

They argue for a few moments before the driver decides to go all linebacker. The rider resists being pushed off by grabbing onto a pole, but that only inspires the driver to bulldoze harder, eventually flinging the rider from the vehicle and into the street in an awkward and painful-looking flop.

Stessel told NBC4 the driver should have called transit police instead of acting like a club bouncer, but in my experience, there's also another option. As a daily Metrobus rider, I've seen passengers who've earned the ire of a driver and a command to "get off" refuse to go. But that's when the driver has defused the situation by pulling over and saying something like, "I can't move this bus until you get off." At that point, everyone stares daggers at the problematic rider, who eventually succumbs to social pressure. Deescalating conflicts would seem to be an important skill for a D.C. bus operator to have handy, since Metrobus drivers were assaulted 90 times last year.

Multiple calls to Metro for an update on their manhunt went unanswered.

X2 Bus, 8th and H Street, NE. © 2011 Matt Dunn

700 Block E Street, NW. © 2010 Matt Dunn

We at Washington City Paper are here to help, with our free walks from the Smithsonian Metro station to the rally site, a long eight blocks away. We're like Arianna Huffington, but with no buses. Meet up with City Paper staffers at the Metro any time between 10:45 a.m. and noon, when the rally starts. They'll help guide you to the rally—providing a service that merely following the hordes of other fake protesters wouldn't accomplish.

After the rally is over, here's where to eat in D.C., and how to keep the irony going the rest of the day.

And remember, if you see those City Paper staffers laughing, as opposed to chuckling politely and non-genuinely, report 'em.

Photo by Minesweeper via Wikimedia Commons

On Tuesday, I blogged in this space about how a new D.C.-Brooklyn discount bus line had a critical failure: a stop at Penn Station in Manhattan. Going through Manhattan sort of defeats the purpose of direct service. TBD followed up with an article on Wednesday and this morning, DCist chimed in. The local commentariat, along with forces in social media, too, expressed doubts and frustrations with the Manhattan stop.

Within 48 hours of me blogging my skepticism and social media communities stewing, the bus line decided to drop the Manhattan stop.

Success! Let a new era in East Coast travel begin! (The next question: Should theknowitexpress use the Goethals Bridge or the Outerbridge Crossing to go from New Jersey to Staten Island?)

Now, let's band together and banish the idea that this is a bus service for hipsters. If that were the case, the Brooklyn terminal would be somewhere in Bushwick or Williamsburg, not smack dab in the middle of Brownstone Brooklyn that's better known for double-wide strollers.

Last week, Prince of Petworth relayed the news of a new bus service, the knowitExpress, between the District and New York City. But the terminal locations—U Street NW in D.C. and Park Slope in Brooklyn—are places not currently served by discount intercity bus service. And they're places to get excited about.

As Brooklyn365 notes, "this bus route may give hipsters from both DC and Brooklyn that ability to contemplate our nation's democracy while en-route." Or something like that. It will also feature free Wi-Fi and on-board bike storage, according to Brooklyn365.

The bus service will also have "a quick stop in Manhattan's Penn Station." Which is impossible—no stop at Penn Station is ever quick!

Hey knowitExpress, try this: U Street NW in the District and the Atlantic Avenue terminal in Brooklyn, and skip the stop at Penn Station in Manhattan. Travel time in and out of New York City would be reduced by skipping Manhattan. (Atlantic Avenue has direct or indirect access to 10 subway lines and the Long Island Railroad.)

Try that and you'll make most everyone happy. (And that might get me to choose the bus over Amtrak.)

Still, you run the risk of geese hitting your bus on the New Jersey Turnpike!

Photo by Wv235, from Wikimedia Commons

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Space Program: Look out, Florida—the Old Dominion is coming after you. NASA officials will launch a "suborbital rocket" from a facility on the Eastern Shore next week, complete with a safety system that will cause the rocket to self-destruct if it strays from its expected flight path. (Fun!) Might this to kick off a new space race? If so, expect Mayor Adrian Fenty to announce over the weekend that the District has launched a satellite—but that it'll come crashing down to Earth if Vince Gray is elected. +2

911 Is a Joke: Police in Hyattsville endure a five-hour standoff outside an auto shop before realizing the building was empty. Evidently, someone told officials that someone else had told him that a group of people with weapons might be inside. Which led to the building's perimeter being secured and a protracted wait for a confrontation with... nobody. In other news, Hyattsville police apparently have very little real crime to worry about. +3

99 Problems, But a Bus Ain't One: Metro pulls 99 buses from the region's roads, after an Orion IV model diesel-powered bus burst into flames on the Beltway yesterday. A hydraulic pump may have caused the fire. The bad news: Fewer buses may mean longer waits on some routes. The good news: You're already used to waiting an absurdly long time for most Metro routes. The really good news: Fewer buses means your chances of getting hit by one decrease. +2

Justin Bieber Is Not a Crook: Maryland authorities won't press charges against the Canadian teen heartthrob for throwing water balloons at state troopers last week during a performance. A bodyguard apparently kept the cops from arresting Bieber up on the spot. Which raises a good question from a marketing standpoint: at what age would it be better for his career to have done some time? (Yes, that joke was kind of lame. So is this entire item. We're only running it to get some of the Google search traffic; we don't actually even know what "Justin Bieber" is.) -3

Yesterday's Needle rating: 45 Today's score: +4 Friday bonus: +2 Today's Needle rating: 51

According to DDOT spokesman John Lisle, this “difficult decision” stems from budget constraints: Although the upper leg carries 2 percent of the Georgetown Circulator’s riders, it is responsible for 15 percent of the overall cost.

After the service is discontinued,  Lisle says, Georgetown residents should make use of Metrobus' “enhanced and improved” 30 lines, which have “eliminated the need to layer additional Circulator service.” The DDOT is also looking into extending the 31 route downtown. The bus currently runs down Wisconsin Avenue but stops short at Foggy Bottom.

The Citizens Association of Georgetown is having a hard time seeing any "enhancement" about it; the group's members have argued that eliminating the upper Wisconsin Circulator route will leave only two buses, the 32 and the 36—half the number available two years ago when the 34 and the Circulator were also running. CAG also says that the two schools now served by the route (Hardy Middle School and the British School) require a transportation link, and traffic will increase after the opening of the newly renovated Safeway supermarket at 1855 Wisconsin Ave. The market's renovations include abolishing the "congested" parking lot, likely increasing the need for public transportation.

More potholes ahead...

Bus, 2000