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#Washington state bus driver stabbed to death install#
#Washington state bus driver stabbed to death drivers#
#Washington state bus driver stabbed to death driver#

HART pays the Tampa Police Department $120,000 a year to place an officer at the downtown Marion Transit Center, according to payment records. Dunn spoke to a nearby Tampa police officer but said he got no help. He described how one passenger spit in his face and tried to break his arm after he asked to see her identification. Still, questions arose after Dunn's death over a complaint he made to the authority board Dec.

#Washington state bus driver stabbed to death driver#

"It made me think they care about driver safety," she said. She said she was encouraged by the Hillsborough authority's demonstration. The design offered protection but wasn't too confining, said Hillsborough driver Tisha Jones, Local 1593's legislative coordinator. The partition features a swinging, locking door, and the top of the door slides open for easy access, said Hillsborough driver Tisha Jones.

#Washington state bus driver stabbed to death drivers#

Last week, Hillsborough borrowed a Pinellas bus outfitted with a clear driver-protection partition and invited drivers to check it out. "We have not taken a position with HART on which design, but they know we're very supportive of those." "It has to be the right design, because there's some concern about operators getting out of there quick enough," Howard said. The divider, sometimes called a shield, gets mixed reviews from operators, Hanson said. There was no monitor on the bus Thomas Dunn was driving, along the Nebraska-Fletcher avenues MetroRapid route.Īnother safety option is a partition separating the driver's seat from the rest of the bus, particularly passengers getting on and off, said Curtis Howard, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1593 in Tampa. The agency is still adding the monitors to each of its 180 buses.

#Washington state bus driver stabbed to death install#

Hillsborough's was the first agency in the state to install security monitors on its buses, similar to those at drug stores or gas stations, Mulloy said. New technology allows for live video and audio feeds along with panic buttons and emergency messages digitally displayed across the bus. Others, like Washington D.C., run ad campaigns that help passengers and the public connect with the drivers. Two drivers were injured, six were spit on and one had a drink thrown on her.įor some agencies, that includes armed guards patrolling stops and riding busy routes. In the past four years, 20 Pinellas bus drivers have reported altercations with passengers, according to Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority data. The Hillsborough authority recorded an average of 13 verbal confrontations a month in the first four months of this year, with just under two per month escalating to physical violence, Mulloy said. "They're trying to provide instructions, give directions and collect fares, all in an unpredictable environment." "Bus operators are the most front-line employees in a transit agency," said Polly Hanson with the Washington, D.C.-based American Public Transportation Association. READ MORE: Slain HART driver chose busy route because he 'loved people,' friend saysĪn attack that results in death or serious injury is rare, but drivers in Hillsborough know what it's like to be spit on, harassed and pushed, said Colin Mulloy, safety director with the Hillsbrough authority.

In 2012, a passenger shot and killed a bus driver in West Hollywood, Calif.

In 2017, a man in Winnipeg, Manitoba, stabbed a driver to death after refusing to get off the bus once it reached its last stop.

Just three days before the Tampa slaying, a Milwaukee woman climbed over a driver's security divider and stabbed him in the arm after he asked her to pay a $2.25 fare, authorities said.