Metro has scaled back plans to add plastic shields to protect its bus drivers after board members raised concerns about how they would appear to riders. The transit agency had proposed adding shields to 301 buses of its approximately 1,500-bus fleet starting as soon as January, retrofitting them onto 250 existing buses and getting them on 51 new buses slated to start arriving in March. Officials had also said Thursday they were looking for a model that could work on other buses.
Drivers, who had sought the shields as protection for years, applauded the decision.
But Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said late last week the agency planned to add only the 51 on the new buses already on order, and consider it a pilot to possibly be expanded, because of concerns from the board of directors. Two buses already have the shields as a preliminary test.
The shields have been under discussion for years.
An earlier model, first tested in 2008, was scrapped because some drivers felt too confined. The new models would have two parts, a top clear section that could be opened separately from the bottom. Drivers could choose not to use them. They cost $1,500 each, plus another $200 to retrofit them onto Metro’s current buses.
Metrobus drivers and their union have been seeking some form of a physical barrier to keep drivers safe from angry riders who lash out, especially when told to pay their fares. Metro Transit Police also said they backed the idea.
Bus operators were assaulted 44 times from January through September, according to Metro. Most of the attacks didn’t cause injuries. In some cases, drivers had food or liquids thrown at them or were spat upon. But in seven cases, drivers were smacked in the face. Two had guns pointed at them and one was pepper sprayed.
One operator driving the X2 route was even bitten on her wrist after a rider punched her in the chest during the evening commute.
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“It’s a concern for our bus employees, as well as our patrons,” Metro Police Chief Michael Taborn told board members last week.
But D.C. City Councilwoman Muriel Bowser, told agency officials that she worried the shields would be too much.
“To me, it sends a message that bus drivers are not safe and people are not safe,” she said. “I don’t want an overreaction.”
Metrobus operators say cameras on buses don’t help in real time and uniformed officers rarely patrol the buses, focusing instead on the rail system. Transit agency officials said that officers in plainclothes, not uniforms, are sometimes on board without the drivers’ knowledge.
Metro officials said 22 cops of the agency’s 450-officer force are dedicated to monitoring the buses. Almost 1,250 Metrobuses travel the region’s streets during the busiest times of day. Additional officers respond to incidents by squad car.
In June, the agency began saturation patrols of undercover and uniformed officers along specific routes, averaging two to three patrols each week.
