Sun Tran is making good on a pledge to improve the safety of its bus drivers by installing Plexiglas barriers that separate them from passengers.
The bus company made the commitment to its drivers two years ago following a prolonged strike and contract negotiations.
This week, Sun Tran began to outfit 27 buses with the barriers. Forty-one more will be in place in June.
"Everybody’s pretty excited that the partitions are finally getting installed because this has been a long drawn-out process," said Kevin Thomas, who represents Sun Tran drivers with the Teamsters union.
"Obviously we wish it had happened sooner and we wish we could get more than 27. We have more than 200 buses out there on the streets and we’d like to get all of them outfitted."
The city is applying for federal grants to install more partitions but the full fleet isn’t expected to be fitted with them until 2022.
Thirty-one drivers reported being assaulted between January 2015 and March 2017, said Bill Davidson, Sun Tran’s director of marketing, and those incidents ranged from verbal to physical.
Bus companies nationwide are installing the barriers, and it's all part of Sun Tran's comprehensive plan to keep drivers and passengers safe.
"We also have other safety measures that we take for everyone, too. We have cameras on every bus, and we also have safety officers that patrol the buses as well," he said.
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