Citing violence, bus drivers demand better security

A union that represents transit workers said Thursday that two stabbings and a shooting have occurred on public buses in the past couple of weeks. In another recent case, a driver was verbally abused so badly that she had to go home.

And instead of addressing the safety concerns, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada disciplined the driver for an attendance infraction, said Terry Richards, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1637.

“We get spit at, we get stuff thrown at us, we get all kinds of things that happen to us,” said Sandra Adams, the union’s vice president, who has been a bus driver for 12 years.

On Thursday morning, about 50 union members showed up to a commission board meeting to voice the issues, which they said have worsened in recent years.

Public safety wasn’t addressed on the board’s agenda, but the advocates shared their displeasure during public comment.

Transit police?

The union, which is asking the RTC for a transit police department rather than private security, kick-started a petition drive after the latest stabbing last week, Richards said.

The petition is the first step in an effort they hope leads to action at the Nevada Legislature, Adams said.

Richards said the bus safety responsibility doesn’t lie squarely on the RTC.

“We just want to be seen, and we want people to know that this is something we need,” she said about peace of mind.

The RTC called safety the “utmost priority.”

“We engage in several measures to ensure the safety of our passengers and drivers, including deploying security officers who patrol our transit system at any given time, providing real-time access to our surveillance system for law enforcement agencies,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement.

The spokesperson said that passengers can report “suspicious activity” through an RTC app and that the commission invested $10 million in security equipment and spends $13 million a year contracting security services.

Adams said the private security isn’t allowed to confront or remove unruly passengers.

Adams said she fields calls from drivers who have fallen victims to abuse. “This is almost a daily thing.”

A couple of weeks ago, a driver, security officer and a Las Vegas police officer were attacked in one confrontation, she said. Last week, she added, another passenger attacked a driver, cutting her on both hands.

Adams said that one time a shooting suspect ended up on her bus, and she didn’t know until police surrounded the vehicle and gave her instructions through a bullhorn.

If security isn’t reinforced, Adams said she believes someone will end up dead.

Union backs drivers

Adams, who began her driving career in Detroit, said that she wanted to be a bus driver since she used to ride in one as a high school student, when she would wonder what it would be like to “get behind that big steering wheel.”

The Transport Workers Union Local 556, which represents airline employees, showed up Thursday to support the bus drivers.

Maria Teresa Hank, co-chair of the Transport Workers’ Nevada chapter and a flight attendant, said similar issues were occurring on airlines and have worsened since the onset of the pandemic.

She credits the unruliness to fear ingrained by the virus.

“The panic and not being able to be in control of situations caused a lot of people to feel unsafe and not be in control,” she said.

Some have been “out of control,” she added.

Richards, who drove public buses for 40 years, 30 of them in Southern Nevada, said: “I can’t tell you why people are more violent now, but there’s an increase.”

In the past, Richards said, the RTC has addressed the need for additional security.

“There’s always been a certain level (of danger),” she said. “OK, you saw how it used to be; look at how it is now. Up your game to cover that, too.”

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow @rickytwrites on Twitter.