Here’s how Metro plans to keep bus drivers safer
Sep 15, 2016, 5:43 PM
Special partitions to protect Metro bus drivers could be installed by the end of the year as a part of the $1.6 million transportation budget being discussed by King County Council.
A clearer timeline of the plan was released Wednesday: Metro Transit Police could be in place by the first few months of 2017 and on-board video cameras could be added fleetwide by December 2018.
KIRO 7 was the first to show you video of the dozens of assaults on King County metro buses.
In the first three months of 2016, there were 36 assaults on King County Metro drivers and passengers, pushed higher by a spike in January that caught King County’s eye.
Some 32 were on drivers; four assaults were on passengers. It’s an increase over that period last year.
In 2015, there were 89 assaults in total, with 77 on drivers and 12 on passengers.
Assaults range from extremely violent attacks to someone spitting on a driver, or fighting with another passenger; mental health issues and drug problems are common.
Metro also plans to take other steps, like testing monitors on board so people can see themselves boarding, and testing a shield for the driver on one or two buses to see if it provided added protection.
