City bus drivers, tired of violence while on the job, raise safety concerns

By Jiani Navarro

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    KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KCTV) — Some Kansas City bus drivers are complaining that their safety is at risk and that turnover will continue if their safety concerns aren’t addressed.

Bus operators said they have been putting their lives on the line after experiencing one too many acts of violence while out on the job. However, KCATA said they’ve done a few things to respond to those issues.

KCTV5 obtained video from 2019 that shows a Kansas City rider brutally attacking a bus driver with a baseball bat.

“Anybody that has worked outside or works outside can tell you that there is a different feel when you’re out on the street,” said Chuck Ferguson, Chief Operations Officer for KCATA. “There’s a different attitude from some people unfortunately.”

Since 2018, Ferguson said every bus had barrier installed to protect bus drivers from violent passengers.

“Two hundred twenty-seven buses and a few dozen spare buses all have a driver barrier,” Ferguson said. “That completely encloses the bus operator. It’s not as sealed as, say, the streetcar. But, it significantly encloses and keeps the bus operator away from the public. Being zero fare right now, there is very little interaction with the public through the front door. That is somewhat of an improvement.”

But, despite those barriers, bus drivers are only partially protected from violent passengers. In another video we’ve obtained, you can see one rider leaned around the barrier and spit on the bus driver.

So far in 2023, the number assaults on bus operators sits at nine. Five of those have been physical strikes.

“Now, one is too many. We don’t want anyone to deal with that. Bus drivers should be allowed to drive the bus,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson said that number is significantly less than what people talk about.

“We’re talking about nine contacts and only five strikes in the course of six million rides,” he said. “If you do the math, that’s .000015 per ride.”

The amount of money KCATA spends on security to keep riders and operators safe is in the millions, according to Ferguson.

“A number of years ago, we didn’t have a security department,” he said. “Now we have a security staff of almost 30 with very quick response times when operators call in. We have a road supervisor staff out and about.”

When asked if a different barrier could be put in place that guarantees drivers full safety, KCATA said this: “We have looked. We haven’t found a satisfactory solution to that at this point in time.”

KCATA said bus operators have expressed ideas on what they want to see changed, and it’s something they may pursue in conversations with them.

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