The man behind a video of a TTC bus driver running a red light says he regrets publicizing the incident.

“It became something far bigger than we imagined,” Nicholas Roy said, in the latest twist on the story of the driver, who no longer works for the TTC.

Speaking with the Toronto Star on Wednesday, Roy said he never wanted the operator, a single mother of two, to lose her job.

“The woman took the hard way. She’s going to work every day, she’s not trying to collect the (social assistance) cheque,” he said.

While the TTC workers’ union has said it won’t contest the driver’s dismissal, it issued a news release Wednesday quoting Roy on his disagreement with the decision to let the operator go.

“Sure, she should be counselled and maybe suffer some penalty, but taking away her job is far too harsh. There are other jobs in the TTC she could do,” said Roy.

“If I had thought that this would have resulted in the driver losing her job, I would have buried that video so deep that the devil wouldn’t have seen it,” he added.

On Tuesday, the union published the bus driver’s letter to TTC management, in which she takes responsibility for “an unacceptable lack of judgment.”

In it, she explains that she didn’t see the light had changed until it was too late to stop safely at the intersection. But the operator, who doesn’t want to be named out of embarrassment, says she was aware at the time there was a pedestrian approaching the curb and she swerved to ensure that the person wouldn’t be hit if she stepped into the road.

Calling it a “split-second decision,” the driver, said she “would never intentionally run a red light just to make time.”

Roy said the bus incident was too frightening not to report. He contacted the TTC but its online forms don’t allow video attachments. So he had his son, Steven Taylor, who also witnessed the bus run the light, upload the video online so they could refer the TTC to the link.

“When the TTC didn’t get back to me, I just figured nobody cared,” said Roy, who later sent it to a TV station.

TTC spokesman Brad Ross confirmed an email “commendation” form from Roy arrived at 4:46 p.m. that day. It indicated that no reply was required and a link to the YouTube video was included.

Because it came in as a commendation, “clearly the urgency wasn’t there when we received it,” said Ross.

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“We commit to acknowledge within five business days, and investigate with a response within 15 days. If the customer doesn’t indicate they want to receive a reply, we do not send them an acknowledgment or response,” he said.

The TTC has a separate email address that allows the public to send documents or other material, but they have to contact the customer service centre by phone or email to get that address.