The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has approved the acquisition of new bus driver barriers following multiple high-profile violent incidents on Metro buses.
The new plexiglass barriers will be larger and will provide more protection for drivers, and Metro leaders vow to expedite the process of getting them installed.
Metro says the new barriers provide good visibility of the bus interior and will allow drivers to focus on the road and deliver passengers safely to their destinations.
Partial barriers were first installed in 2020, but a recent attack on a Metro bus driver, as well as an armed hijacking in March, have led to calls from both the public and the bus driver’s union for more safeguards.
Metro officials say assaults on its bus operators totaled 160 in 2023, up from 92 in 2019. Those attacks have continued this year, and the transit agency called the attacks “unacceptable.”
Assaults on bus operators have increased from 92 in 2019 to 160 in 2023 and attacks have continued this year.
Metro announced the approved motion on X, formerly Twitter, and said the barriers will be “supplemented” with law enforcement officers on buses, Metro security and Metro Ambassadors.
“We would like to thank our Board, security staff, union leadership and, most of all, our bus operators for their work on this difficult issue,” Metro wrote in the social media post. “Your sense of urgency is appreciated as public safety for our riders and employees continues to be our number one priority.”
The Metro board, which is comprised of local leaders, including Los Angeles city council members, county supervisors and Mayor Karen Bass, have been facing increased scrutiny in recent days following a string of violent — and deadly — incidents involving innocent bystanders.
In the last two weeks, a bus driver and a bus rider were stabbed in separate incidents on the same evening, and earlier this week, 67-year-old Mirna Soza Arauz was stabbed to death on a Metro B Line train.
LA Metro has invested millions into public safety efforts and data shows that crime across the system is down from recent years, but these high-profile incidents have led to a sense of fear and discomfort for many of the riders who rely on its service.
Last March, the Metro Board approved a plan to evaluate the feasibility of establishing its own police force. Other proposed solutions have included improved fare gates that are harder to bypass and increased fare enforcement on trains and buses.