Protective barriers credited for drop in serious assaults against OC Transpo drivers

OC Transpo conducted tests on new permanent barriers for drivers. (Photo courtesy: City of Ottawa)

OC Transpo and the union representing bus drivers credit the installation of protective barriers on buses for a decline in the number of assaults involving Ottawa bus drivers.

However, the Amalgamated Transit Union says its members still face incidents of verbal assaults and spitting from riders on OC Transpo buses.

Statistics provided to CTV News Ottawa show there were 34 bus driver assaults in the first nine months of 2022, and 38 assaults in 2021. That's down from 65 bus driver assaults in 2020 and 87 in 2019.

"Over the years, the numbers were pretty high until we installed barriers, shields on the buses," Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 President Clint Crabtree told CTV News Ottawa.

"After doing that, we've seen the number of serious assaults drop because the operators are behind the shield and barrier, but what we continue to see is verbal assaults and spitting at the operators – so they're spitting at the shield."

In 2020, the Transit Commission approved $6 million in funding to install permanent barriers on OC Transpo buses to protect bus drivers. The installation of more than 700 barriers started in April 2021, and was finished a few months later.

"Any assault on anybody shouldn't be happening, but the assaults have come down due to the fact we have shields and barriers on the buses," Crabtree said.

OC Transpo says there has been a "consistent reduction in the rate of assaults" against bus drivers since 2018, when 105 incidents were reported.

"A more pronounced reduction is seen from 2020 to 2022 when protective barriers were installed," OC Transpo Chief Safety Officer Paul Treboutat said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

"Staff note that while there may be a correlation between ridership levels and operator assaults, isolating the operators as much as possible with barriers has resulted in positive impacts on the reduction in assault occurrences."

The Amalgamated Transit Union is calling for a national transit safety task force, as the union says violent attacks on public transit have reached "crisis levels".  The ATU says the task force must include transit agencies and representatives of all levels of government.

The call for a task force comes after a number of violent attacks on Toronto Transit Commission buses and the subway system, targeting workers and riders.  Police reported several incidents, including a TTC driver shot with a BB gun and two TTC workers assaulted on their way back to work.

"We don't want to see anybody get assaulted, that's all there is to it," Crabtree said, noting the ATU is looking at "all avenues" to improve safety for riders and employees.

"We need to do something to address it and fix it immediately."