ADDRESSING SECURITY CHALLENGES FACING MASS TRANSIT SYSTEMS

摘要

Attacks on mass transit workers-specifically bus drivers-is unfortunately nothing now. As the front-line faces of government, bus drivers are regularly abused for requiring passengers to pay their fares or to stop harassing other passengers. Drivers are also being attacked as targets of opportunity by thieves, intoxicated persons, or unprovoked aggressors looking for someone to assault. Of course, passengers are also vulnerable to such attacks, but as lone figures of authority, bus drivers tend to be prime targets. For drivers, this state of affairs was bad enough before COVID-19 occurred, but since then matters have gotten worse. This is because bus drivers in many jurisdictions now have to enforce masking requirements on passengers, some of whom respond to this restriction with violence.