There’s nothing quite like a headline to get the ball rolling on a stalled pilot program. Nearly three years ago, a bus driver was murdered on the job, the MTA vowed to pilot a bus partition program to improve driver safety. It took almost a year to install the first partitions, and Transit has been testing them since Jan. 2010. Now, a month after another driver assault and weeks after the MTA announced plans to install security cameras in buses, the partitions are back in a big way.
According to a New York 1 report, 464 buses will receive the plexiglass partitions by year’s end. The program is still somewhat in the pilot phase, and Transit says they will install different partitions based on the type of bus. According to the NY1 story, the MTA will assess the two safety measures and “decide next year — with the union’s input — how to move forward.”
Bus drivers meanwhile seem mostly on board as safety has become a concern in the wake of some high-profile incidents. “A lot of operators don’t like them because they feel boxed in,” bus driver Lloyd Archer said. “I like them. They’ll protect me. I’d rather for someone to spit on that than spit on me, or punch that instead of punching me.”
8 comments
Doesn’t this kind of make riders less safe? Kind of nice having a bus driver who can intervene if something happens.
Also, I happen to enjoy talking to the bus drivers on a few of the routes I take, and even know some of them on a first-name basis.
When have you seen a bus driver intervene if something happens? It’s like the station agent debate: They aren’t really supposed to do much more than call the cops.
I agree, but being perceptive of their surroundings helps them know when to call the cops. Unlike station agents or conductors, bus drivers must be there and may as well be as useful as possible.
The big problem with station agents is they do little and cost a lot of money – kind of like overpriced cameras and plexiglass.
OK.IF STATION AGENTS DO LITTLE,AND COST A LOT OF MONEY, THEN WHY DOESN’T TRANSIT GET RID OF THEM ALL. WHY IS THE MtaHIRING BACK ALL THE STATION AGENTS THAT WERE LAID OFF LAST YEAR.
The MTA isn’t hiring back all the station agents that were laid off last year. Also, your caps lock is stuck.
Why not just get them to do more? Clean or walk around the station doing directions. Also, some stations are big enough and crazy enough to call for more staffing. I really don’t see the oft-empty Crosstown Line Broadway stop needing an agent, but Times Square?
I DON’T KNOW WHERE U GET YOUR INFORMATION, BUT THEY R HIRING BACK THE CLERKS THAT WERE LAYED OFF. 230 CLERKS HAVE ALREADY been rehired, with about another 50 slated to be rehired next month. Also people that took the last station agent test in 2008 are being hired as cleaners for the time being, and then once all layed off clerks are rehired , those people will be promoted to station agents as well.
They’re being rehired as cleaners, and they’ll get promoted to station agent when current station agents retire. The MTA isn’t adding station agents, and in the vast majority of stations where they axed the agents, the booths are now gone too.
And please, please let of the caps lock key.