MIDTOWN — A bus driver sat dead in a Port Authority Bus Terminal layover area for nearly five hours last week without being noticed, authorities said Monday.
The NJ Transit driver, Thomas Truex, was found unresponsive in his commuter bus at about 3 p.m. Thursday in the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Port Authority and NJ Transit officials said.
"Sometime prior to 3 p.m. we were notified this particular driver had not reported to his garage in New Jersey," said Port Authority spokesperson Steve Coleman.
Truex was found on an idled bus in a layover docking spot where bus operators often park at the end of their routes to eat and use the restroom, Coleman noted.
The Port Authority and New Jersey police are investigating the incident and the reason for the delay in realizing that Truex had died.
Truex worked as bus operator for NJ Transit for 26 years, according to the agency.
The medical examiner's office did not immediately provide a cause of death.
