In response to exponential increases in assaults on public transit workers, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a directive on Wednesday, Dec. 20, requiring urban transportation agencies to monitor the dangers faced by workers interacting with passengers and to list safety strategies.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) together with DOT are taking extraordinary steps to understand the scope of escalating attacks on bus and rail operators, requiring additional reporting accountability and concrete solutions from transit agencies nationwide, including Southern California. The goal is to keep workers on the job without fearing attacks from angry or frustrated passengers.
“Everyone deserves a safe workplace, including and especially the frontline transit workers who keep our nation moving,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement released Wednesday. “Assaults on transit workers are unacceptable.”
From 2008 to 2021, there were, on average, 241 assaults on transit workers per year, with 192 of those occurring each year on transit vehicles, 44 per year at transit revenue facilities and five per year in maintenance yards, according to the FTA’s National Transit Database.
The number of reported assaults per 100 million vehicle miles traveled increased 8% each year, resulting in a 121% increase from 2008 to 2021, the FTA reported.
“Each day, transit workers nationwide are responsible for moving millions of Americans to their jobs, schools, and other daily activities, and we must ensure that their safety remains a top priority,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez in a prepared statement.
The federal directive requires transit agencies to identify the risks frontline employees face and report what actions are being taken to protect workers. The draft directive is being circulated for public comment until Feb. 20. Reporting will be required within a few months of certification, according to the FTA.
“I look forward to working with leaders across the transit industry on ways to further enhance the safety of these essential workers,” said Buttigieg.
One of the major causes of violence is when bus and rail operators interact with the public and must explain the fare structure, or when operators enforce the fare payment. The FTA assessed this assault risk as “very high.” The same risk level was assigned to workers at revenue facilities where people buy transit passes or load their TAP cards.
The directive comes a little more than two weeks after the release of a study by the Urban Institute that found major assaults nationwide rose from a total of 168 in 2008 to 492 in 2022. The data, culled from the FTA, included only major assaults in which an operator died or was taken to the hospital for treatment.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) reported one major assault in 2008 and nine in 2022, according to the Urban Institute study. In 2022, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) reported two, and Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) had one; neither reported any assaults in 2008, according to the study.
“I wish I can take credit,” said Lindiwe Rennert, senior research associate at the Urban Institute on Wednesday. who said the report attracted considerable media coverage, including an article in this newspaper and may have reached the DOT. “I would hope it contributed in some way.”
The Urban Institute study said an analysis of FTA data included incidents in which transit employees on the frontlines were robbed, had objects thrown at them, were spat upon, doused with urine and hot beverages, threatened at gunpoint and shot at.
It attributed the incidents to increased tensions in cities with income inequality, high levels of civil unrest and bus driver enforcement of fares.
LA Metro reported that all manner of assaults on bus drivers reached 151 during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, and nine assaults on rail operators were reported. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, assaults on bus operators reached 152, and nine assaults were reported on rail operators, Metro spokesperson Rick Jager said last week.
The L.A. County agency, which runs a fleet of 2,035 buses, is considering enhancing bus driver safety barriers. One design would add plexiglass protection from the operator compartment door to the bus windshield. Another design being explored would extend the barrier to the ceiling of the bus, Jager explained.
LA Metro has installed cameras that show the passenger area of the bus on an interior monitor, serving as a deterrent against operator assaults, said Dave Sotero, LA Metro spokesman, in an emailed response on Wednesday.
“We welcome the Biden Administration’s proposed actions, which will amplify actions we have already taken to reduce assaults on our transit employees,” Sotero noted.
Metro has hired 48 new Transit Security Officers as part of Metro teams that ride bus lines throughout the system where assaults on operators have occurred more frequently, Sotero said. “They are supplemented by additional support from our law enforcement partners who are on the buses as part of their overall security support for Metro.”
But critics say Metro’s reliance on enforcement tools won’t solve the problem. The answer is faster, cleaner bus service and a fareless system, some say.
“The tensions when buses are late, people have to wait longer, are part of deprioritized bus service that exists because of Metro policy,” said Alfonso Directo, Jr., advocacy director with ACT-LA. “Fares add more tension on top of that, and it could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”
Orange County’s bus agency has taken many safety measures and welcomes federal support. The agency reported adding bus driver barriers, onboard cameras, more transit police patrols and annual driver training on how to de-escalate difficult situations with passengers.
“At OCTA, our ridership has returned to 90% of what it was prior to the pandemic and safety is the top priority for employees and the public,” wrote Joel Zlotnik, OCTA spokesperson, in an emailed response on Wednesday. “We have not experienced the same upward trend of driver assaults in Orange County, especially compared to some other transit operators regionally and nationally; however, one assault is too many and we take them seriously.”
In the Inland Empire, Riverside Transit said it is working with the Biden Administration and will respond to the FTA’s new directive.
Already, the RTA has installed bus driver barriers and camera systems that monitor onboard and outside activities, said Brad Weaver, RTA spokesman, in an emailed response on Wednesday.
The RTA is teaming up with the Riverside Police Department to train bus drivers to be aware of potentially dangerous situations. Also, drivers have access to “on-board tools … to swiftly contact dispatch or law enforcement should a situation arise,” added Weaver. New drivers must complete safety training and are retrained every year.
“In regard to the FTA’s General Directive, RTA’s Safety Committee, comprised of equal parts union and administrative staff, will review the proposed changes and requirements and take appropriate action as necessary,” Weaver wrote.
To comment on the directive, use docket number FTA–2023–0032 when corresponding. Send an email to: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for emailing comments. Fax to: 202-493–2251. Mail to: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, Washington, DC 20590–0001.