OC Transpo bus driver protective barriers delayed until 2019

The City of Ottawa has pushed back a pilot project that would equip a dozen city buses with a protective barrier for drivers until the new year.

Earlier this spring, the general manager of OC TranspoJohn Marconi committedto introduce the shieldsdesigned to "restrict customer access to the operator's area," later in the year.

But in a statement to CBC the transit agency has now set installation of a new prototype into about a dozen busesfor the first quarter of 2019.

• OC Transpo to test out driver shields on city buses

Clint Crabtree, the president of the union representing bus drivers the ATU 279 said the union has been recommending the barriers to protect drivers from assaults for more than a decade, but he said most recently the city has been supportive despite the delay.

CBC has reported on the spike in both verbal and physical assaults against OCTranspodrivers in recent years.

"Nobody deserves to be assaulted but especially when they're trying to do a service to the public and being assaulted while they're at work it is not acceptable,"said Crabtree.

Edmonton has become the latest city to move ahead withthe installation of bus barriers expected in January in a bid to protect drivers at a cost to the city of $6.95 million.

Crabtreesaid the project in Ottawa is limited to a dozen buses for now and will depend on drivers' feedback to see whether they really make a difference.

"Right now there isn't a lot of data on how effective they are in preventing assaults," saidCrabtree.

The city statement from Troy Charter, the Director of Transit Operations confirmed "OC Transpo is working with the City's Supply Services team to procure 12 operator protection barriers," adding the prototype has been chosen.

Crabtreesaid the union has had four members as part of a working group picking out the prototype.

He said the prototypes are being developed by AROW Global, which has manufactured barriers for other bus agencies in Canada and the U.S.