MTA, transit union demand stricter penalties for transit worker attacks

Bus Operator Matthew Ashby (at podium) was assaulted with a padlock by a passenger while operating a bus in Brooklyn. Photo via TWU Local 100/Twitter.

By Jonathan Sperling

The MTA and Transport Workers Union are demanding harsher punishments for straphangers who harass train and bus workers following a reported rise in the number of attacks last year.

A bill introduced in Albany would make aggravated harassment against transit workers — including spitting — a Class A misdemeanor, which carries up to a one-year prison sentence. At a rally on Thursday, Acting MTA Bus Company President Craig Cipriano and members of TWU Local 100 called for state lawmakers to pass the bill.

“Every single day, nearly 10,000 bus operators come to work to move millions of New Yorkers safely to wherever they want to go in this city,” Cipriano said. “But too many of them are unable to do that already difficult work without being harassed or attacked.”

“We are here today to say with one voice that enough is enough,” he continued. “Our dedicated front-line employees often bear the brunt of ridership frustrations that are well beyond their control.”

Bus operators have been a particular target of violence over the past two years, according to MTA data. Assaults are up more than 10 percent and spitting incidents are up 35 percent in 2019 and 2020 compared to 2018, according to the agency.

In addition to supporting harsher punishments for attackers, the MTA said it would deploy more bus security cameras. Nearly 4,200 buses have security cameras onboard, and all 5,700 buses in the MTA’s fleet are on track to be equipped with security cameras by the end of the 2020-2024 MTA Capital Plan.

“The public needs to understand that operating a bus in this city is already challenging and that attacks on bus drivers are completely unacceptable,” Cipriano said.

In October 2019, a Queens bus driver operating a Q8 bus in Jamaica was beaten with an umbrella by a passenger for not driving fast enough. The driver suffered a cut on his head as well as a bruised rib cage, requiring medical treatment. 

Bus operators, train operators, train conductors, station agents and other MTA workers marched to the agency’s Manhattan headquarters last year to draw attention to a rising number of assaults on transit employees.