Violent incidents, more fare evasion escalating: local transit union president

Violent incidents are becoming so common on Saskatoon city buses, that some drivers now wonder if they’ll make it back home safe after their shifts.

Darcy Pederson, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 615 representing city bus drivers, told the Evan Bray show Thursday things aren’t getting better — they’re getting worse.

“The violence — not only is it not going away, it’s escalating in severity. The violent acts that we’re seeing on the buses are to the extreme that we’ve never seen before,” he said.

Over the last month, Saskatoon Police have reported at least four violent incidents on city buses, including an alleged assault on a driver on Fairmont Drive, a fight between three men on a bus at a stop along 8th Street, an 18-year-old stabbed on a city bus in the Nutana neighbourhood, and a 20-year-old man and 15-year-old girl also stabbed on a city bus in Pleasant Hill.

Pederson claimed all Saskatoon bus drivers would have a story about a personal violent account they’d had on the job, including physical assaults, verbal assaults, threats, minor pushing and shoving, and intimidation tactics.

He said most drivers don’t call supervisors when incidents occur, because even they don’t have the means to remove anyone from a bus.

“Our other option is to pull the bus over, open the doors, and call the police. And we wait,” said Pederson.

Pederson explained it isn’t worth confronting whoever was the cause of the incident because that person could have a weapon.

“We don’t want our operators at risk,” he added.

A city policy of not enforcing bus fares contributes to the safety issue, Pederson claimed.

“Anybody can get on the bus and just say ‘free ride today,’ or walk past the operator. We’re told not to engage. Saskatoon policy is to remind them, and our (the union) position is don’t even remind them.

“If (the) City of Saskatoon wants fare collected, they need to hire somebody to collect that fare,” he said.

However, he also acknowledged that policy contributes to frustration among paying passengers.

“They’re questioning — ‘why am I even bothering buying a bus pass here?'”

A community bus safety program is expected to begin on July 1, with six community support officers expected to patrol several of the larger bus terminals, and even ride on some routes.