Safeguarding Transit Workers and Strengthening Public Transportation

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I’m your co-host, Levi McCollum, Product Manager at ETA Transit. And I’m your co-host, Christian Londono, Senior Customer Success Manager at ETA Transit.

Hey, Christian. How are you doing today?

Doing good, Levi.

How are you doing today?

Yeah, I’m doing very well. Hey, so for today’s episode, I want to talk about some of the things that we’re doing today. This is something that is critically important for transit agencies and a bit of a somber topic, but I hope informative for our listeners.

And that is workplace safety, specifically assault on transit workers. So I was reading some articles over the weekend, and I saw that over the last 15 years, the number of assaults on transit workers has tripled.

In fact, the national transit database shows from 2008, when there were 168 incidents regarding assaults on transit workers, that has ballooned to 492 incidents as of 2022. And a lot of this is really just disturbing and degrading entirely awful things that people are doing to transit workers, specifically transit bus operators and train operators.

A lot of these are physical attacks. Unfortunately, some operators have passed away as a result. And some are maybe on the less offensive side, but still very egregious acts like spitting in someone’s face.

These agencies and their operators are providing a critical service to the community, and the operators are the backbone. not only the eyes and ears, but you can’t do this without the operators. I don’t know if you have a lot of experience and you have seen this in maybe your travels or you’re working at transit agencies.

What is your take on this? Yeah, it is a very concerning issue. I think the bus operators, and let me think about it just for a second. Yeah, I would say, I mean, they’re the ones that spend the most time with the public, right?

And they’re the unsung heroes, right? Like they’re providing all these services to the community. They really are the public servants out there just helping people access all the basics, right? To be able to go to school, to work, I mean, play, see friends, everything is through public transportation and it’s them who is out there with the community.

And it is, know, also frustrating, right? Like to hear this statistics and the verbal of use and the threats and the, you know, the violence and, you know, the bus operators that have passed away and the PTSD, right?

Because they go through traumatic situations. I mean, sometimes there could be somebody with a gun on board and then they point at people and then they just have a situation where they have to call law enforcement and they get abused in many different ways.

So, you know, it’s just frustrating to hear those statistics where they’re ramping up. There’s just more and more assaults. And it’s something that during this episode, I really want to dive in into some of the reasons why this is happening and how altogether the transit industry can put some efforts towards mitigating some of those situations and hopefully just ending it as much as we can.

So a great topic of conversation, Levi. So let’s understand a little bit more this issue and think about, well, what’s the impact on the bus operators when this is happening? What happens to their lives when they go through one of these situations?

Yeah, that’s a great point. You know, at the worst end of the spectrum here, some families are without that individual in their household anymore. And I can’t think of anything that would be more sad than someone going to work and then, you know, not returning home that day.

That’s the worst end, right? You know, I guess in that middle part of the spectrum there, maybe an assault and maybe it’s a pretty severe assault. I mean, if you just Google the number of bus operator stabbings, it’s entirely alarming.

It should not be happening this much, but those folks, like you mentioned, have to be suffering from PTSD. I don’t know how you’d want to go back and be a bus operator after something like that. There would be a clear, very clear distinction in my mind, like this is the reason why I’m being exposed to some of these elements.

For the cases that are maybe on the less severe side, again, still very serious, but if it’s spitting on somebody or a punch perhaps, that still has to sit in your mind that this is how people treat me and they must think that I’m lower class because I’m a bus operator or a train operator or a utility worker or something to that effect.

So it does start to probably affect your psychology about you and your position in society and from maybe a non-transit worker perspective, someone who is a prospect, someone who may be interested in doing this as a lifelong career and working their way up in the agency, I would be reluctant to go into that type of job where this is the reality.

And some might say that it only happens in certain areas, right? Maybe your most populated areas, that’s where you’re seeing this type of behavior. Well, I think the data show something a little bit differently in that those major assaults are rising not just in terms of number, like the actual total volume.

Yeah. But they are increasing in the number of agencies that this happens at. From that same time period, 2008 to 2022, it went from 21 agencies to 49. I don’t have a complete breakdown of those agencies, though we could get it from the national transit database.

But it goes to show that this is a growing concern across the country. And I would think that it affects the recruitment for new operators. And in the end, that affects the operation of the service. Yeah, it’s a difficult environment, right?

In which they’re operating in and communities are growing around the country with the inflation and folks being challenged with making a living every day and all these folks that are riding transit. And they’re dealing with a lot of stress and they’re coming into the vehicle.

and a lot of times they’re taking the stress on the bus operator. And at the same rate, I can see a lot of the bus operators have to have a high degree of emotional intelligence. And you mentioned your mental health and how it affects you and how you have to prepare yourself to deal with some of those tough customers, right?

Not everyone is a difficult customer or an alcohol head when it comes to transit. There’s a lot of good people that use the service. There are people that are very nice to the bus operator too. The bus operators do a lot for people as well.

They care a lot. They put a lot of effort to help people. I know of bus operators that they share the lunch with homeless folks and with folks that don’t have much that they come into in contact every day.

And they you know they They do a lot for people, but every now and then, you get that knucklehead, that person that goes not only into the bus system, but everywhere, and those people out there that are just instigators, and they’re looking for an opportunity to ruin somebody’s day.

And unfortunately, a lot of the times, the bus operators have to deal with them. And there’s different situations that might put them into that confrontation. And sometimes, some bus operators that might not have that much emotional intelligence, or they just get tired of a lot of these situations, they end up getting to the confrontation, they get reeled in, and they end up being assaulted.

And all the times, they just get assaulted with no reason, which we’ve seen a lot of those cases, which, in my opinion, it just points out to a lot of mental health out there. And a lot of those folks in transit, and it’s just the bus operator having to deal with those difficult folks out there, and just trying to, again, provide service.

But at the same time, protect the other riders, keep the vehicle safe. It’s very taxing. There’s a lot that they have to go through. And back to the environment, and some of these factors that contribute to the assaults, it’s just, I don’t know, specifically, what are the factors that cause to double up the number of agencies that are experiencing operator assaults?

But I think a big piece of that is, I mean, the overall stress and the lack of mechanisms to protect the bus operators. Right. Yeah, I mean, some of it, it seems, on the outside looking in here, I haven’t studied this in any great detail, but the growing income inequality in our country, it could…

contribute to that. There’s also a lot of civil unrest that could contribute as well. The mental illness part, maybe drug addiction. These societal issues tend to bleed into public spaces like public transportation.

And when there is a dispute with the operator, sometimes, of course, there’s not a dispute. But when that dispute happens with the operator, maybe it’s about fair payment or some other issue about being late.

It seems that the tempers flare very quickly. And as you mentioned, the anger or discontent that is placed onto the bus operator or to the train operator, that really is a shame because they’re just driving the vehicle or they’re just operating the vehicle.

So, that higher tension in society seems to be bleeding over into some of these public spaces. Yeah, there’s, you know, of course, a fair collection, that’s another one, you know, with some that are trying to get away with not paying.

And I’m not, you know, sure there’s any kind of correlation with economics and just people not being able to afford transportation, but, you know, a lot of times, bus operators are in a situation where they remind folks about the fair, right?

People have to pay, and, you know, those are those situations, right? Because you’re a bus operator, and from the folks that I’ve spoken to and that I’ve known, they’re not trying as a bus operator to, you know, confront the public, like, get into a confrontation, right?

They let the public do their thing as long as they abide by the rules and then they focus on, you know, being safe. That’s the number one priority. But when it comes to a fair collection, that’s one of those scenarios where they’re asked by the agencies to, you know, enforce the rules, and then one of them is people have to pay the fair.

So sometimes that leads into assaults because, you know, people are just trying to get away with not paying. And then I also know in those situations where some of the bus operators just ignore when people avoid paying just to avoid a confrontation, but then other passengers on board start getting upset because that person is riding without paying and then start asking the bus operator to do something about it.

So it’s difficult because, you know, a lot of these situations related to rule enforcement, they’re by themselves, you know, with this, you know, 40 feet or more vehicle out there. in traffic, in the middle of the city, and you have all these people going in and out, and then you’re the one by yourself that is supposed to make sure that the service is provided, but also enforcing the rules, right?

And then sometimes asking people to use headphones or turn off any volume because you cannot play anything that might disturb other people, or not eat on the vehicle, or not bring certain things you’re not supposed to bring on the vehicle, and then that interaction with the public, although you might try to be very nice the way that you ask and polite, and I know bus operators get trained in different techniques of how to interact with the public,

it’s still a conflict of things, right? I’m sorry, de-escalate, yes. Then they also de-escalate those situations, or that’s what they’re trained to do. But if I’m asking you to not do something that you’re doing, it also, you might receive it.

in so many different ways, like you might be having a bad day and decide to punch me in the face. Yeah, that’s exactly right. And, you know, the operator is merely doing the enforcement, they have to play that enforcer role.

Because like you said, they’re the only ones there. You know, I know that the federal government sees that this is an issue. And luckily, there is, you know, some something being done from a policy standpoint, to get agencies to think about how to curb these problems.

Specifically, the Federal Transit Administration, they issued a general directive earlier this year, back in September, I believe, and it requires transit agencies to conduct safety risk assessments, specific to worker assaults.

So I’m not sure if you’re familiar with this, but agencies must report these efforts to the FDA by December 26, 2024. So that’s just in a couple weeks time here that agencies are going to have to report these efforts to the FDA.

And, you know, another piece too, is that the bipartisan infrastructure law has expanded the data collection on the NTD side to include all assault types, not just the major incidents, like it was when, you know, you and I were reporting, now it is all incidents.

And they are putting money towards this as well. They’re allocating $500,000 in the bipartisan infrastructure law for researching safety risk and mitigation strategies. You know, agencies need to take some accountability here.

These are their workers. And the operators and transit workers more generally are in a vulnerable position. They’re public servants, as you mentioned. I like this sort of top-down approach, but, you know, because it encourages and requires, in fact, the agency to come up with this strategic way of thinking about how we prevent the operator assault.

And there’s a little bit of a push and pull here. Now the agency is required to do something. This is a mandate. And mandates, good or bad, sometimes it’s a little bit of a mixed bag, but at least the onus is put on them to start thinking about how they can curtail these assaults.

So it’s a little bit of both. You’re getting the top down. Now here’s the bottom up. Maybe the agency gets some momentum behind it and they feel like, hey, let’s make a big push to ensure that all of our transit workers are safe.

Yeah. I think this also ties to bus operator shortages, which right through COVID and after COVID, became a really big problem nationwide. And I think it still is for a lot of agencies because getting professional bus operators is difficult.

I mean, you have to have a CDL and like we said, their job is quite difficult. And on top of that, when you’re performing a very noble function in society, you get paid. I would argue that I think bus operators, they’re not paid enough because of the role they play.

But on top of that, you are at risk of being assaulted and yet, farther more, they are being assaulted and it is increasing. So it is important the federal government is prioritizing addressing the issue and with a policy and even with data collection, right?

That you manage what you measured. Just saying this numbers are gonna be important. And not only that, we’re gonna give you money to be able to start implementing strategies to mitigate a bus operator assaults.

And out of the sudden, you’re impacting everything. I mean, including the riders, you’re impacting the transit agencies at its core because if you don’t have bus operators, you cannot put out service.

That’s it. I mean, you could have overhead, HR, marketing, all the functions within a transit agency are very important. But the bus operators are really who are out there with the public, actually delivering the service.

So just thinking the consequences when a bus operator is assaulted and then you talk about operational disruptions, right? The bus operator, depending on how the assault occurred, sometimes they end up in the hospital, sometimes they…

They go into short-term, long-term disability, and again, they’re dealing with PTSD. They end up not being to drive for a very long minute before they can get back to work, if they get back to work, or if they end up getting discouraged, and they say, you know what?

I’m just going to be driving over the road, and I’m not going to do this transit anymore. So all that ultimately impacts the public as well. So if you’re a rider waiting a bus stop, and then there was an operator assault a block away, and now you have supervisors coming inside, the police, the bus operators being transported to the hospital to be taken care of, then now that bus is never coming, and all the community is impacted as well.

So I think that the efforts from the FDA in prioritizing addressing this issue and actually encouraging agencies to move this happen priority in their communities as well, should start curving those statistics.

And hopefully we start see a decline in assaults and more confidence in people going into this line of work feeling that they’ll be safe in providing transportation and being part of the community. And so Christian, I know you were at POMTRAN whenever they installed the bus operator door.

And that was for, I believe, different reasons, right? That was during the height of COVID, trying to protect the operator from disease, a very deadly one that could affect vulnerable people. Do you think that the bus operator door could separate the operator enough from a passenger who’s wanting to do something nefarious, is that enough?

Does something else need to be done? I would say, so different things prompted putting the bus operator door, bus operator barrier, different names for it. But yeah, that protection, that separation between the bus operator and the public.

And recently before that, a bus operator in the West Coast of Florida was killed by a passenger. And as far as I recall from the video, what was shared, the bus operator just said, good morning. And this person walked to the back of the bus and then came back and stabbed the bus operator to death.

So he asked me if this is effective. And so those are some of the reasons that are happening. So you have COVID, you also want to put a… a barrier just to protect any of these particles that might have COVID to come in contact with the bus operators.

There are different reasons why it was installed, but definitely primarily to avoid the assaults, and I think it does help. I’ve talked to different operators. They talk about people still trying to reach through the barrier to hit them, to grab them, and they end up giving up, and it’s easier for the bus operator to protect themselves behind the barrier when anybody’s trying to attack them.

I think that those are effective. Now, the last piece you asked me is, is it enough? I would say it’s not. You need a combination of strategies to make sure that in any different types of assaults that may occur, uh the bus operator has a way to respond to them in a way that they’re going to be safe and unharmed um so you talk about silent alarms for anything any situation where the driver needs to not to you know upset any farther somebody holding a weapon that is threatening them or people on the bus you know you have uh surveillance uh cameras you have cameras inside the the uh vehicles that a lot of the times are also shown in the screens inside inside the vehicle i don’t know if you you notice that where there’s infotainment inside the vehicle and then it shows the footage live footage of um everybody inside the bus and it says smile you’re on camera and pretty much they’re flipping through that uh you know every so many minutes as a way to remind all the writing public and all these other folks that sometimes you know there’s knuckleheads that are writing that uh act up they see those cameras and they’re being reminded if you cannot control yourself and you know avoid from you know assaulting somebody else then you know you gotta be on camera and then we’re we’re gonna prosecute you and then you know the transit police uh that’s another one that i know a lot of agencies have put in place as a strategy uh to protect bus operators and just to remind the public that it’s not okay to lay hands on them at all at all i mean you know yet alone any other kind of assaults and abuse but just lay your hands on them is is completely uh unacceptable so yeah i think those work uh levi have you heard your strategies or what do you think about some of those uh uh applications of of preventive safety out there yeah the words that you mentioned are top of mind for me uh they certainly rise to the top i would say stronger penalties for assaulting transit workers this can’t be a misdemeanor,

right? This needs to be a felony. You need to be fined heavily. You need jail time or potential jail time, depending on the severity. In no way should a writer place their hands on a transit worker or spit on them or do any of those degrading acts.

So increasing the penalties is I think one that maybe you didn’t mention that I would throw in there. Public awareness around the issue. You know, the see something, say something message has been distributed in our society now since, what, 2001, you know, since the World Trade Center.

I think that this is, we need some type of campaign like that, where people are more cognizant of, these assaults and that they happen pretty frequently, unfortunately. Those are the two things that I can mention, that I mentioned that you didn’t put into yours.

Additionally, you said the covert emergency alarm or the panic alarm, that’s a big one, right? And from a technological perspective, like in our ETA spot system or any Caddy VL provider, being able to get that alert to the dispatcher or open up a mic channel to be able to directly communicate to the dispatcher priority request to talk is another option for being able to get a clear message to the dispatcher that something is wrong.

If it could go far as, now I’m going to give you live footage into the vehicle once that covert emergency alarm is pushed, that’s great. If it goes to the police department or if they have a way to be able to tap into that live feed whenever the covert emergency alarm is pushed, even better, right?

Because we can get a response to the operator more quickly. It’s not going to take several steps to be able to get the resources onsite that you need to be able to deescalate the situation or to remove the individual entirely from the vehicle.

I don’t want to say that technology can solve all the problems here, but technology is one tool in the toolkit that we could use to be able to curb these transit assaults. Yeah, I think that urgency and response is critical.

I think that more agencies should consider having a covered or silent alarm and hopefully, we need to have that functionality in a wear dispatch and, other resources could listen to that specific bus and know what’s happening.

You can actually see real-time footage inside the vehicle and deploy resources. You know, call the police and the supervisor and the agencies to track those responses. And tracking those responses is just critical, right, to start measuring performance because time is also very critical in avoiding that confrontations escalate, right?

If the bus operator gets… maybe that supervisor to come and talk to that individual, they might be able to feel better talking to somebody else and just resolve the issue before it gets worse. And just overall, moving forward, we have to think about improving our safety culture, making sure that we’re prioritizing, protecting our bus operators.

And in this case, particularly, it’s very important to work with our unions. I think that the union plays a critical role in just communicating the reality of the bus operators and helping find solutions to, again, curb those statistics, reduce the number of assaults that are happening out there and just overall keeping our bus operators safe.

I mean, that’s the minimum that you would expect as an employee in any company is that the company is ensuring your safety. So we have to collectively work on making sure that they’re being safe. So I think that this is something that I’m really looking forward to talk to you about in the future, Levi, and to see how these directives from the FDA and these initiatives are potentially translated into a reduction of assault of it all.

And also, as you mentioned, the FDA is asking for more types of assaults to be reported. So whenever that data starts being reported, I look forward to looking at it with you and just discussing what the data is telling us.

Yeah, absolutely. It’s been a great conversation. Even though it’s one that’s a relatively somber topic, you still have to talk about these issues because they impact all of us in the transit industry and society at large.

I’m glad we were able to put this one on the books. I want to thank all the listeners out there. Please let us know if you have any feedback for us or if you’d like for us to talk about a subject or topic in particular, we’d be happy to do it.

And we will catch you next time, bye. Bye, and remember, boss operators are the backbone of public transit systems. It’s time we take action to protect the people who get us where we need to go. Thank you for listening to us.

We’ll see you during the next episode.