MTA Takes Steps to Protect Bus Operators from Assault

One of the 2,042 new buses that will be added to the MTA’s fleet by 2020. All buses will include partitions and surveillance cameras to keep drivers safe.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is taking steps to protect New York City bus drivers from attacks, including the installation of plastic partitions that protect drivers from passengers. The agency will also add 2,042 new buses outfitted with surveillance cameras over the next five years, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Attacks on bus drivers make up the majority of assaults on transit workers. According to the New York State Department of Labor, bus operators have been the victims of 58% of the assaults as of July 31st of this year.

“It’s an extremely unfortunate situation,” says J.P. Patafio, Vice President of the Transport Workers Union Local 100’s Surface Division. “It’s a constant, low-level migraine headache.”

Anthony Velez-Saviano, a bus driver for 13 years, says many passengers who become violent are upset about traffic delays.

“People get very pissed off, they get very hostile,” Velez-Saviano said. “But if I’m stuck on the expressway and it’s bumper to bumper, and I’m in a 48-foot long bus with 57 people on it, what can I do?”

The plastic partitions form a protective barrier around the bus operators, closing them off to potentially violent passengers. The TWU Local 100 credited the partitions for a 35% drop in felony assaults between 2012 and 2013, the year the installation project began.

The MTA has been using funds from their Capital Program to invest in driver safety. They have retrofitted all 4700 of their buses with the partitions at a cost of $3000 dollars per bus. Over the next five years, the agency will spend $1.3 billion dollars to replace 40% of their fleet with new buses. All new buses will have operator partitions and surveillance cameras.

TWU Local 100 Presidential Candidate Joseph Campbell says that, despite the partitions, the MTA has a long way to go in protecting workers. He wants to see the addition of a security force on buses that is dedicated specifically to protecting workers. “Prevention of assault is the biggest deal,” said Campbell.

Patafio says that while adding a security force should be a top priority, he’s pleased with the steps the TWU and the MTA have taken.