Bus driver doors accelerated due to COVID-19
Vinyl shields in place while B.C. Transit awaits delivery of fully installed driver doors
Full driver doors are on the way, but operators will be protected by temporary vinyl shields when front-loading of Kelowna transit buses resumes in July.
Addition of the doors, intended to protect drivers from dangerous and abusive passengers, on BC Transit's fleet of buses has been accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But not all the sturdy doors will be ready when fare collection and front loading of buses begins again on July 1, so BC Transit will fit the buses with temporary vinyl shields meant to offer protection to drivers before all the doors are installed.
"Safety is our top priority, and the full driver door is another tool," BC Transit says in a Thursday release that also refers to measures such as on-board security cameras, better communication systems, and training drivers how to diffuse troublesome situations.
All of Kelowna's buses should have driver doors installed by this fall, BC Transit says. The company contracted to make the doors has accelerated production and installation "in light of COVID-19", BC Transit says.
About 660 BC Transit buses in dozens of communities are being retrofitted with the driver doors, and all new vehicles will come with the doors installed.
The doors are not floor-to-ceiling, and they do not go all the way forward to the vehicle's windshield, but BC Transit says they protect the driver from any attacks from the rear and side.
"Normally, drivers have the skill set to be able to defuse a situation before it becomes violent, but when an individual does something unexpected, throws something at the driver or spits on them or takes a swing at them, the door is designed to protect against that," John Palmer, the Crown corporation's safety director, said in Kelowna last year.