#Metro transit drunk bus driver drivers
#Metro transit drunk bus driver driver
#Metro transit drunk bus driver full
#Metro transit drunk bus driver code

■ Traditional customer service training relies on pre-written scripts to develop skills.

#Metro transit drunk bus driver drivers

Preparing drivers for what they may experience day-to-day is vital. Passengers with traumatic histories who already feel disempowered may read a bus driver’s microexpression as an invitation for a fight and an opportunity to get their power back. Contempt shows up in microexpressions and body language. While most of the riding public does pay its fare, a bus drivers’ frustration for those who don’t, sometimes leads to contempt for passengers. Imagine the new hire’s frustration and disillusionment when dealing with fare evaders with substance abuse disorders. Customers pay, which is what new bus drivers with customer service backgrounds expect. In recent years, recruitment and preparation for the job have been to onboard new hires with customer service experience and train them with traditional customer service skills development. This thinking becomes particularly entrenched when policies are not clearly written, and middle managers and supervisors send mixed messages regarding the rules. When transit workers feel they’re without backup, they’re more likely to attempt enforcing the rules rather than just stating them. ■ However, the frontline is at a much higher risk of assault if they aren’t prepared to work with these populations, and don’t have or don’t believe they have sufficient police assistance to protect them. Just as in any other social service field, the threat of assault is possible in transit when drivers pick up vulnerable persons with untreated mental health issues, substance abuse disorders, and no place to live. For many homeless persons, their local public transit system provides temporary shelter from harsh weather. According to HUD’s Annual Homeless Assessment Report, as of 2017, there were around 554,000 homeless people in the U.S. Sadly, some of them occurred on public transit. Last year, the CDC released a report on the dramatic increase of opiate addictions, stating that an estimated 47,600 people died of opiate overdoses in the U.S.

include hospital workers and residential facilities workers caring for the elderly, the mentally ill, and persons with substance abuse disorders. This is not a surprise considering the 2017 Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the most at-risk-for-injury occupations in the U.S. Finally, direct interaction with intoxicated and/or mentally ill passengers is a salient factor. Working alone in isolated high-crime areas and having inadequate escape routes further raise the risk of verbal threats and attacks. ■ According to the 2015 TRACS Report on Preventing and Mitigating Transit Worker Assaults, fare enforcement is a major risk factor for assaults and threats. *Source: METRO Magazine Top 100 Bus Fleets Survey

#Metro transit drunk bus driver code

The other riders expected him to shut the perpetrators down.”ġ0 Ways Agencies Are Working to Prevent Operator Assaultsġ Installing/upgrading on-board surveillance systems.ģ Increasing training, including a heavier focus on de-escalation and mental health awareness.Ĥ Greater cooperation with management and union to enhance emphasis on operator protection.ĥ Increasing police/security presence, both uniformed and plain clothes.Ħ Working with state legislature to enhance penalties for operator assaults.ħ Changing fare enforcement policy to “fare monitoring.”Ĩ Installing police call/emergency buttonsĩ Posting rider code of conduct/signage explaining punishment for people who assault bus operators.ġ0 Launching “See Something Say Something' campaigns. He was looking for a fight.” “No, he was just doing his job. Management and union representatives review and come to different conclusions. Now, the Monday Morning Quarterbacking begins. The frontline is fevered with fear of a lawless customer population and recriminations against what they perceive is a dismissive Control Center and an apathetic executive leadership. Within hours of the assault, the news spreads across the authority.

#Metro transit drunk bus driver driver

A bloody nose, a split lip, perhaps a fractured jaw, and a bus driver rocked to his core. They mill about on the sidewalk while one passenger sits next to the stunned bus driver administering comfort.

#Metro transit drunk bus driver full

Some passengers remain on the scene of what was initially a full vehicle. The police are called, and by the time they arrive, the perpetrators have left the bus on foot. “Two passengers are refusing to leave the bus and are threatening to assault me.” The driver leaves the radio open for Control to hear the escalating exchange of comments and subsequent violence. An anxious bus driver is requesting police assistance. when Control Center gets the priority call. There is no one, magical response to de-escalate a potentially violent passenger.