Council backs phasing in compartments to protect bus drivers
The drivers' union has long called for more protection for its members; 28 assaults on drivers were reported over the last three years.
Saskatoon city bus drivers are set to receive the protection from violent passengers their union has long been calling for.
City council voted unanimously in favour of allocating $500,000 to begin outfitting buses with enclosed driver compartments. The goal is to find more money to retrofit the entire fleet of 140 vehicles beginning in 2022.
“This is not fixing potholes or sidewalks; this is the health and safety of our drivers,” said Coun. Bev Dubois, whose motion for a phased-in approach went further than the pilot project city staff originally put forward as an option.
Council made its decision after hearing from Amalgamated Transit Union Local 615 president Darcy Pederson, who had called on them to ensure outfitting every bus in the city has an enclosed driver compartment.
“Driver assaults are on the rise,” Pederson said, adding that the 28 assaults reported on city buses over the last three years do not include threats of assault, verbal abuse and intimidation.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic has only made things worse, with fights and other violent incidents breaking out on buses.
“If we were looking at any other department, and were told there had been 28 assaults in the past couple of years, we would be taking action,” Coun. Randy Donauer said after seconding Dubois’s motion.
“I think we’re a little bit lucky that we haven’t had any major incident happen on our transit,” added Coun. Troy Davies.
Funds for the first phase will come out of a $2.7-million federal gas tax contingency fund — money council heard is kept on hand to cover any project overruns — meaning it will not affect the property tax rate.
An administration report notes the initial outlay will be enough to retrofit 24 buses. Depending on the type of compartment, modifying every bus in the fleet is expected to cost up to $2.9 million.
Council will decide on the future of the program at its 2022 budget deliberations next year, after Saskatoon Transit reports back on the results of the first phase of the project and funding options for the second.
The mayor and councillors heard that there are different transit philosophies, including one that uses enclosed compartments and another that relies on de-escalation training and education to protect drivers from violent interactions.
Pederson said the training drivers receive is “more like customer service training” and “barely scratches the surface” when it comes to de-escalation. Saskatoon Transit director Jim McDonald said drivers receive a few classes and one open session.
“What we’re seeing is more and more (transit) properties going to the kind of barriers we’re talking about today,” McDonald said under questioning from city councillors, who ultimately backed the motion.
“One assault is too many, and education’s not going to fix that,” Coun. Darren Hill said.