Here’s to the unsung heroes of our homeless-addiction-mental-illness crisis: the drivers and platform staff of the Utah Transit Authority.
Much has been made about the increasing burden placed on the police, firefighters and EMS personnel who are the first responders when there is an incident in our drifting, troubled street population.
But less attention is paid to the 800 plus drivers and operators of UTA’s sprawling multi-county public transit system, who are often the first to encounter trouble when trouble breaks out.
In 2022, through the first 10 months of 2023, according to incident reports I obtained from the UTA in a public records request, there were 294 cases in which UTA drivers or platform staff had been threatened or physically attacked by unruly passengers.
During those 22 months, according to the reports, the drivers and staff were hit, scratched, choked, threatened with knives and guns, smashed with a skateboard, run over by a wheelchair, beamed in the eyes with a laser pointer and, on numerous occasions, spat upon by angry, drugged, intoxicated or deranged passengers. In some of the cases, UTA or local police arrested the offenders, although many fled before the officers arrived. But the only defenses on record were two instances when drivers pepper-sprayed passengers who had physically threatened them.
These incidents are not unique to the UTA system. Since COVID disrupted the nation’s public transit system, the Federal Transit Administration reports the number of assaults on drivers has increased dramatically across the country. Both the UTA administration and the Amalgamated Transit Union that represents UTA drivers and another 200,000 transit workers nationally are acutely aware of the problem and struggling to find solutions.
The international union and its UTA Local 382 have pushed UTA and other transit agencies to establish safety committees to study and address the problem. In a resolution (H.J.R, 26) passed this year, the legislature recognized that “assaults on transit operators pose a unique threat to the stability of our mass transit systems and perpetrators must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
After amending its enforcement ordinances in 2022, the UTA is now banning some unruly passengers from its buses and trains. The so-called “trespass” ordinance has been used more than 14 times this year to ban certain passengers for periods ranging from three days to 90 days, according to incident reports.
But more can be done.
Other systems have benefitted by issuing official free transit cards to indigent residents. This addresses one of the key problems for drivers who, in addition to driving, must also collect fares. It is at the fare collection stage that many of the violent exchanges take place.
“The bus drivers are face to face with the public,” says Utah ATU Local 382 President Rod Davis. “They are exposed, sitting right by a fare box which sometimes leads to a fare dispute. They are dealing with chaotic and clogged streets, construction, weather elements, traffic, pedestrians, bicycles, dogs and headlight glare.”
Amalgamated Transit Union International President John A. Costa contends that public transit authorities should have a “no ride” policy similar to the airline “no fly” list. Costa has also called for a major redesign of buses so that passengers board from the side or rear to avoid the initial contact with the driver at the front of the bus.
In his introduction to the UTA 2024 budget, UTA Executive Director Jay Fox praised the “historic” legislative resolution supporting driver safety and said UTA plans to set up a new “video security center to monitor and communicate across our system. Enhanced cameras monitor key rail crossings, and infrared technology helps detect trespassers even after daylight hours.”
Anyone who rides public transit in Utah knows that the passenger-driver relationship is usually courteous and friendly. Most passengers shout out a genuine “thank you” to the driver when they exit the bus.
When public transit works, it can be a wonderful sight that unifies the community. On a recent afternoon I rode the UTA 9 bus route through a mostly Hispanic neighborhood on the west side of Salt Lake City. The passengers were mostly working people or school children, many of whom have no other form of transportation.
The scene was like a page out of one of Richard Scarry’s children’s books in which the bus, the driver, the passengers and the surrounding neighborhood were all happily united in a hectic common purpose. The children laughed and skipped off the bus when they reached their stop. The driver smiled and waved goodbye. Cheerful Spanish words filled the neighborhood.
At this moment, the mayhem that haunts drivers and passengers in other parts of the city and in other hours and on different routes, seemed very far away.
Rone Tempest is a journalist who also serves on the board of the Utah Transit Union, a public transit advocacy organization.
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