In June of 2005, in response to rumblings from its bus drivers, Metro Metro produced a report detailing growing safety concerns among drivers and passengers. The report included a statistical tally of troubling incidents. Ann Gullickson, Metro's able transit service manager, says the frequency and nature of these incidents has remained somewhat constant. The concerns prompted a city committee to this week approve the purchase and installation of security cameras in 15 buses. Future plans call for cameras at bus transfer points. What follows is an Isthmus item on this issue, and the cited reports.
1. The Isthmus item, from Bill Lueders' "Watchdog" column for March 17.
Fear of riding
Recently, Isthmus has been hearing a lot of buzz about city buses. Readers
have been reporting fights and at least one neighborhood group is meeting to
discuss "safety concerns" at Madison Metro bus stops. Is this a growing
problem?
Ann Gullickson, Metro's transit service manager, says the issue has definitely acquired "greater urgency" over the last two years, and that reported incidents are "more serious in nature." At issue is not run-of-the-mill roughhousing among students, but behavior that makes passengers and drivers "fearful of their safety."
A report from last June reviewed a 16-month period. It tallied 109 physical fights, 10 times that objects were thrown at drivers, six times that drivers were struck or pushed, and four times they were spat on. More current data is not available, but Gullickson says "things have not gotten dramatically better or worse."
Relief may be on the way. A plan to spend $50,300 to put video cameras on 15 buses was approved Tuesday by the city's Transit and Parking Commission. Chair Carl Durocher says Metro drivers have been outspoken in their support for the cameras. A similar plan was rejected by the Common Council several years back, but Durocher says concerns about security have eclipsed fears of "Big Brother."
Metro officials hope to also install cameras at the city's four transfer points. The Metro report says there were 311 police calls to these transfer points in 2004. The worst was the south transfer point, with 187 calls; the best was the west, with 0.