Several bus lines throughout Los Angeles could face delays Friday as some LA Metro bus operators staged an apparent “sick out” amid safety concerns, the transit agency confirmed.
According to the Metro, delays may be experienced on the following bus lines due to “staff shortages”: 2, 4, 18, 20, 33, 40, 45, 53, 66, 70, 108, 110, 111, 115, 206, 212 and 720.
The “sick out” comes as the agency faces a safety crisis following a series of violent attacks on Metro buses and trains.
On April 22, a Metro train passenger was stabbed to death on her way home from work in Studio City. Authorities said her attacker was a transient.
Earlier in the month, a bus driver was stabbed by a passenger in Willowbrook, and in March, a transient armed with an airsoft gun hijacked a Metro bus and crashed it into the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Los Angeles.
Last week, a member of the LA Metro board said she wouldn’t ride the bus alone because she was concerned for her personal safety.
“I will not ride our transit system by myself. I am afraid and I sit on Metro, but I will not ride it,” Board Member and L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said.
In Friday’s statement, Metro blamed “untreated mental illness and drug addiction” for the surge in violent crime and pledged to re-deploy security guards on buses in order to deter assaults. It also warned that intentionally calling in sick violates Metro’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
“Transit riders throughout Los Angeles County depend on the Metro Bus and Rail network every day to reach critical destinations including work, school, and medical facilities, and to care for their friends and family members,” the statement reads in part. “We appeal to our operators to reconsider the impact their plan to call in sick will have on some of the most vulnerable people in the county.”