GRT rolls out buses with driver shields
Pilot project will modify more buses, with drivers and passengers offering their thoughts on the different models
WATERLOO REGION — Grand River Transit has just received two new buses, the first in the fleet to be outfitted with barriers to protect drivers from violence while on the job.
And in January, six more buses will be equipped with driver shields as part of a new pilot project agreed to by the transit workers’ union, Unifor 4304, and Waterloo Region in the most recently ratified contract.
“The operator is on the front line, they’re in a position that is vulnerable to physical assaults,” said Eric Gillespie, Waterloo Region’s director of transit services.
“The consequences can be significant to them, to customers on their bus, or to others in the community if the bus operator, as a result of an assault, loses control of the vehicle.”
The region has more than 500 full-time and part-time bus operators who service 70 different routes.
Over the past four years, Grand River Transit bus drivers have reported 11 physical assaults and seven attempts, 30 threats, and three cases of being spit on, said Gillespie.
That’s why the region’s transit system is piloting a new project in eight of its buses that will allow drivers to sit behind different types of shields.
“Some of them are fixed and permanent and then there’s some of them that give the operator the discretion to use them,” said Gillespie.
The buses will hit the road in January and Grand River Transit will be looking to gather drivers’ preferences as well as rider reaction.
The shields aren’t the only tools drivers have to assist them when things get out of hand.
They undergo training to help diffuse tense situations and have two different means of getting into contact with emergency services while on the road.
“Our operators have access to a silent alarm and an E-911 feature that allows them to have a direct link into emergency 911 telephone operators … through their radio,” said Gillespie.
Buses are also outfitted with GPS so they can be located in an emergency as well as video surveillance, which was installed in 2012.
“I would say that that’s a good deterrent,” said Gillespie.
“It’s also helpful to review a situation after the fact to see whether there’s more that we could have done to de-escalate.”