Council mulls $500K bus modification plan
City pilot project would test enclosed compartments for transit drivers
Saskatoon city council is set to consider a pilot project to test enclosed driver compartments on transit buses, but the union representing drivers wants them added to every vehicle in the fleet.
“I'd like to see it as a priority,” said Amalgamated Transit Union Local 615 president Darcy Pederson. That could cost up to $2.9 million, compared to the $500,000 proposed for the 24-bus pilot project.
Saskatoon Transit currently uses clear vinyl barriers to separate drivers from passengers during the pandemic. No money has been allocated in the 2021 budget for the pilot project or a broader retrofit.
If approved, money for the pilot would come from the federal gas tax fund.
A report headed to council on Monday notes that Saskatoon Transit has a “low rate” of assaults on drivers — 28 over the last three years — and de-escalation techniques combined with a safety barrier would have prevented all of them.
Saskatoon Transit director Jim Mcdonald said the decision is about balancing the “teeter-totter” of improved driver safety on one side and precious capital dollars on the other.
“We've got a fairly low assault rate on our operators — and even one is not good — but then we're also looking at a significant capital outlay,” he said, adding that the high-end cost estimate is equivalent to six new buses, for which there is no money in 2020 or 2021.
“When we stop buying buses, all that stuff starts aging and we start getting into the problems we had before 2015,” he added.
Pederson said enclosed driver compartments would protect drivers from irate passengers as well as COVID-19, and would be an improvement over the vinyl barriers currently in use.
The report lists increased security, prevention of physical injuries, possible reduction in COVID-19 exposure and avoidance of “significant investments” in security staff as advantages of enclosed compartments.
Disadvantages include possible encouragement of other violent acts such as spitting and throwing items, the potential for transit to be perceived as unsafe, and operator issues such as claustrophobia, glare, reflection and noise.
The report lists alternatives, including Plexiglas barriers and increased de-escalation training. It notes the pilot would provide feedback about the best long-term solution, which could be up for debate at next year's budget deliberations if the project goes ahead.
DISAGREEMENT OVER MASK ENFORCEMENT
ATU Local 615 has also called for enforcement of the mandatory mask requirement on city buses which came into effect on Sept. 1, possibly through the addition of security staff.
Ward 1 Coun. Darren Hill said he started talking with the union about that possibility and was prepared to introduce a motion, provided bus drivers agreed to wear masks behind the vinyl curtains.
City hall staff have said the vinyl barrier is sufficient protection, but Hill questioned the optics of forcing passengers to wear masks while drivers can be seen without their noses and mouths covered.
“I did my best, but at the end of the day they had to work with us to make that happen, and they were not able to do that,” Hill said.
Pederson acknowledged discussions with Hill, but emphasized that the province, the city and the union agree masks are not required because the vinyl barrier is in place. Most drivers wear them anyway, he added.
He also said Regina Transit is enforcing its mandatory mask rule without requiring operators to wear masks behind the barrier.
“If (Hill) wants to put a motion forward on the floor to support commissionaires on the buses enforcing the mandatory mask policy they put forward, we would definitely stand behind that,” he said.
While described as mandatory, the policy is not being enforced. There is widespread agreement that drivers should not have to confront maskless riders.
ATU, CITY APPROVE NEW FOUR- YEAR CONTRACT
Labour strife between the union and the city appears to be a thing of the past; it took both parties just six days to negotiate a new contract that includes pay raises for drivers in three of its four years.
Under the terms of the agreement ratified last month, ATU Local 615 members will receive a 1.6 per cent raise backdated to Jan. 1, 2020, followed by an identical increase in 2021.
The union's members will then get a 1.95 per cent raise in 2022, but no raise in 2023. Drivers will also receive an additional five per cent of their wage when instructing other operators.
According to the union's last contract, drivers start at $46,127 in annual salary — though they are paid by the hour — and max out at $65,160. ATU Local 615 has many other employees with varying salaries.
The union spent years at loggerheads with the city over its pension plan, a bitter dispute that included a 2014 lockout over which the city was forced to pay damages. A new contract that included hefty back pay ended the clash in 2016.