LA Metro takes emergency action over bus driver attacks

A series of violent assaults on bus drivers has prompted LA Metro’s board to approve an emergency measure bypassing regular procurement policy to install enclosed barriers with tempered glass to separate drivers from passengers.

Earlier this month a bus driver was stabbed in an unprovoked attack, while a metro passenger was killed by a homeless man, who had previously been banned from the network.

Routes with the most documented assaults will get barriers first but the entire fleet of more than 2,000 buses could be modified by the end of the year.

“The board approved Metro’s use of emergency procurement designation for the bus operator retrofit barriers due to the sudden, unexpected increased severity of assaults on operators,” a spokesperson from LA Metro told Cities Today. 

“Given the delay we experienced in receiving the tempered glass over the past few months, staff recommended that the normal procurement processes be waived to accelerate installation of the barriers to protect the health and safety of our bus operators.”

At a board meeting last week, several officials expressed their growing concern of the deteriorating situation which affects not only bus operators but also regular passengers.

“I will not ride our transit system by myself, I am afraid,” said Kathryn Barger, LA County Supervisor and Metro board member. “We’re not going to build security to get our way out of this, we have to look at the root cause of what is going on, and that is our mental health system both at the local, state and federal level.

“We have received reports highlighting improvements since last year on crime stats and over other key areas but the reality is that we are fighting a battle with one hand tied behind our back.”

Partial barriers were first installed in 2020 but the recent attack and a highly publicised armed hijacking in March have led to calls from both the public and the bus driver’s union for more safeguards.

Growing problem

According to research from the Urban Institute, assaults on transit workers in the US have tripled over the last 15 years.

Metro officials say assaults on its bus operators totalled 160 in 2023, up from 92 in 2019.

Along with the increased onboard security measures, the LA Metro board will explore the implementation of facial recognition technology and weapons detection systems at train and bus stations, similar to those used at airports.

Officials have also discussed additional security measures such as creating a special police force and the introduction of evasion-proof fare gates.

Image: LA metro