Attack on MBTA bus driver in Mattapan signals troubling trend
BOSTON - There's a protective plastic shield between drivers and passengers on MBTA buses. That's what may have blocked the pellets from an air soft gun someone shot at a driver at 1:00 in the morning Monday in front of the Mattapan Library. Fortunately, the driver was not injured, but it was a harsh reminder of a troubling trend.
Students who ride the bus to school every day say drivers should be kept safer. "That won't really truly protect the bus driver, so I don't feel like they have enough protection," said one passenger.
"It's basically every single day, our operators are being violently or verbally attacked," said James Evers, president of Carmen's Union Local 589. He is in Washington DC this week at a conference, with transit employee safety at the top of the agenda. "The person who attacks our operators is just free to go, they usually get right back on the next bus behind the one they just sucker-punched, spit at, threw feces or urine at," he said. He's pushing to give police the tools they need to hold attackers accountable.
The most recent available MBTA numbers show from January until March of 2023, there were 18 reported assaults on bus and rail employees. Six were verbal attacks. Most involved people spitting or coughing.
State legislators are now considering a proposed bill that would stiffen penalties for assaulting a transit worker to as many as two-and-a-half years in prison for those convicted, or a fine of as much as $5,000.
