Winnipeg Transit union renews call for enhanced bus shields after latest assault on driver – Winnipeg

An attack on a Winnipeg Transit the driver – who forced him to flee through the bus window – went on to call for new security shields on the city bus.

The attack happened Sunday night near Portage Avenue and Camden Place after the driver asked a rioting woman to leave the bus.

Police said the woman pulled out a knife and tried to stab the driver around a plastic safety barrier.

The driver ordered all passengers to exit the bus before exiting the driver’s side window. No one was injured and a 41-year-old woman has been charged.

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Winnipeg bus driver safely escaped through window from knife-wielding passenger

Romeo Ignacio, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 (ATU) said Chapter 680 CJOB’s The News unions are seeing an uptick in cases where motorists are at risk because security shields currently installed on buses can be breached.

“I can recall at least seven incidents where, you know, people put their hands in the cockpit,” he said this week, adding that drivers on all routes have expressed concern for their safety.

“If a crew member is attacked with a weapon, there’s not much room inside the cockpit.

“We are asking for an expansion shield. I think that would be the best way.”

Safety shields currently used on city buses begin to be installed for the first time in the fleet in 2019.

A union spokesman said it has asked the city to install new, expanded barriers starting in 2020 because the current design “has been shown to be ineffective at preventing someone from reaching their hand out.” into the driver’s compartment.”

Diagram of a new fender provided by New Flyer to Global News by ATU shows a fender extending more towards the front window of the bus.

A city spokesman said three models of the fenders were tested between 2009 and 2012 before an ATU survey found most drivers disliked the fenders for reasons including reduced traffic. air volume, increasing glare and limiting customer interaction.

Two other shields were tested with 700 motorists in a test project in 2017, and the spokesperson said the current shield was selected from that test.

While the city’s Transportation Advisory Committee is discussing other protective shields as new designs hit the market, the spokesperson said it’s “too early to share potential outcomes.” can be obtained from this discussion.”

Ignacio acknowledged the shields now installed on the bus had prevented “major attacks” but said more protection was needed, noting that the driver involved in the latest attack had told him that he was “a few inches away” from the knife.

“The only way he has is, you know, trying to get through that window,” he said.

“He was more concerned with the passengers… it was a packed bus and it could have been a lot worse – people could have been injured.”

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