Councillor calls for more protection for bus drivers
A Saskatoon city councillor is concerned bus drivers are too often left to fend for themselves when faced with aggressive passengers.
“We've got a lot of unsafe situations for these operators, and I don't see them getting a lot of support,” said Ward 3 Coun. David Kirton.
Kirton is behind a motion to have city staff put together a report outlining options for adding security to city buses. He thinks it's time for council to have a discussion after hearing in recent committee meetings about a rise in fare-dodging.
“That can't continue. We can't just have free service. And I do hear from a lot of people who ride the bus who get angry that they paid and others haven't,” he said.
While broken fare boxes have contributed to the problem, council has heard there is also an issue with people simply refusing to pay.
“For the safety of our operators, we ask that they not engage in actively enforcing fares,” explained
Saskatoon Transit operations manager Mike Moellenbeck.
He said drivers are instructed to avoid confrontations due to worries they may be assaulted. If problems arise, they are to contact a supervisor or city police. If an incident occurs while they're driving, they are to pull over when safe, open the doors and otherwise not intervene until help arrives.
City bus drivers are among 415 transit employees represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 615. Local president Darcy Pederson said drivers have found themselves dealing with more agitated people and heightened emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Things have definitely gotten, I would say `elevated' to the point where some of our members aren't feeling as safe as they used to,” he said, adding members are fully behind having some sort of added layer of security.
“They just need an extra hand out there,” Pederson said.
Kirton said he's waiting to see
the options city staff present when they report to council, but he doesn't imagine putting fullfledged city police officers on buses would be practical. He said he pictures something more along the lines of the alternate response officers employed by city police, or the community support officers who work in the core business districts.
He noted security patrols on city transit services are common in larger centres, and said it might be time for Saskatoon to “take the next step,” particularly in light of investment in a bus rapid transit system that's meant to be a primary way of getting people to and from a proposed downtown arena and entertainment district.
“We need to make people feel safe, and we need to make them understand our service is going to be reliable,” he said, referencing the ongoing investigation into widespread transit service failures last winter.
While he wants transit operators and passengers protected, Kirton said it's important not to lose sight of what's fuelling many of the situations arising on buses — namely, increased poverty and rising needs for mental health and addictions supports.
“This is a very small cog in that great big wheel,” he said.