Bus operator shield/partitions

[wtfnewyork]

Ok, are there any bus operators here?

 

What are your feelings about the newly installed bus operator shield partitions?

 

There's been quite a few stories the past few months of BOs being punched out and slashed with a knife even tho they were sitting behind the partition.

 

What are your opinions on the usefulness of the partitions? Do you think they are going to have to redesign them to cover the driver's area completely?

[SevenEleven]

I won't say that they're entirely useless but the partitions still leave the operator vulnerable. There's nothing stopping anyone from reaching over the farebox into the open space to attack.

[Rafa]

The particians are definitely not useless especially when doing a school tripper after school "odor" or a night car "drunks".

[Blitz]

I'm not an operator, but i don't like the partitions on the NG hybrids. In my seating position, the glass splits my view of the curb side mirror. It's kind of annoying when i have to test drive buses.

[46Dover]

From what I've heard, you can put those partitions in the same category as Hudson Yards station: shoddy construction....

[DetSMART45]

Alt-perspective here:

DDOT (Detroit) scaring everyone with the "attacks" on operators (around 4-5 years ago) -- or as the Union kept repeating -- nevermind the fact that buses operated whenever, no schedule, people were pissed, Union was basically condoning/"approving" those tactics by the operators.  And that was before the city bankruptcy.  City gets Gilligs in 2011.  They're operating today (this weekend, the whole 45+ order was out in force), not ONE has driver guards on them.  NONE of the new 2014/15 Xcelsiors have guards on them.

 

SMART (suburbs) gets some new Gillig hybrids in 2011, and all three have driver guards on them.  Practically never saw much use (even to today -- that's the buses themselves), and I think all the guards have been removed.  Only saw one last summer with a guard, but that was an extreme rarity.

 

What's replaced those pointless guards?  SEON surveillance cameras.  All DDOT New Flyers and Gilligs had them fitted, and SMART buses had them already.  New SMART 2015 orders have 11 cameras, older models (including DDOT) have 7.  All can be monitored in real time.  And ARE.

 

Instead of spending money on USELESS plastic, the MTA should just install cameras.  And if any MTA bigwigs from the Legal Department are looking in, here's a side benefit: It cuts your liability insurance and helps in defending against "injury" claims.

 

SMART's super-CLEAR camera footage was even shown on local news and convicted him when played in court:

93 days in jail

 

Skip the "shields" and get cameras.  It's amazing how much of a deterrent they are.  The bus operators (via the Union) should be pushing for them.

[QM1to6Ave]

Alt-perspective here:

DDOT (Detroit) scaring everyone with the "attacks" on operators (around 4-5 years ago) -- or as the Union kept repeating -- nevermind the fact that buses operated whenever, no schedule, people were pissed, Union was basically condoning/"approving" those tactics by the operators. And that was before the city bankruptcy. City gets Gilligs in 2011. They're operating today (this weekend, the whole 45+ order was out in force), not ONE has driver guards on them. NONE of the new 2014/15 Xcelsiors have guards on them.

 

SMART (suburbs) gets some new Gillig hybrids in 2011, and all three have driver guards on them. Practically never saw much use (even to today -- that's the buses themselves), and I think all the guards have been removed. Only saw one last summer with a guard, but that was an extreme rarity.

 

What's replaced those pointless guards? SEON surveillance cameras. All DDOT New Flyers and Gilligs had them fitted, and SMART buses had them already. New SMART 2015 orders have 11 cameras, older models (including DDOT) have 7. All can be monitored in real time. And ARE.

 

Instead of spending money on USELESS plastic, the MTA should just install cameras. And if any MTA bigwigs from the Legal Department are looking in, here's a side benefit: It cuts your liability insurance and helps in defending against "injury" claims.

 

SMART's super-CLEAR camera footage was even shown on local news and convicted him when played in court:

93 days in jail

 

Skip the "shields" and get cameras. It's amazing how much of a deterrent they are. The bus operators (via the Union) should be pushing for them.

A lot of the new buses do have cameras. Whether they are monitored (or even ooerational) is another question entirely...

[Blitz]

A lot of the new buses do have cameras. Whether they are monitored (or even ooerational) is another question entirely...

The cameras on our buses can be monitored in real time, but are not. The camera footage is only viewed if an incident occurs.

[DetSMART45]

Priority should have been to have employed the cameras, because it's not as if it is something new.  SMART began putting cameras on the buses back in the 1990s -- even rotten old Flxibles had them until they were scrapped a couple years later for Gillig Phantoms.  The technology has significantly improved, especially with real-time monitoring, but it's amazing how the MTA being as big as it is doesn't somehow be the cutting-edge for the country's TAs.

 

And in that perspective, the MTA should have had driver guards in place for at least a good decade if not more.  Maybe then, the US manufacturers would have designed something like what you see on buses available everywhere else except the North American market.  Integrated driver cabs with protection have been commonplace since Mercedes-Benz brought out the Citaros, Volvo redesigned their European workhorse into the 7900H, and most recently Wrightbus' new Routemaster double-decker (with full-door enclosure).

[bobtehpanda]

Priority should have been to have employed the cameras, because it's not as if it is something new.  SMART began putting cameras on the buses back in the 1990s -- even rotten old Flxibles had them until they were scrapped a couple years later for Gillig Phantoms.  The technology has significantly improved, especially with real-time monitoring, but it's amazing how the MTA being as big as it is doesn't somehow be the cutting-edge for the country's TAs.

 

And in that perspective, the MTA should have had driver guards in place for at least a good decade if not more.  Maybe then, the US manufacturers would have designed something like what you see on buses available everywhere else except the North American market.  Integrated driver cabs with protection have been commonplace since Mercedes-Benz brought out the Citaros, Volvo redesigned their European workhorse into the 7900H, and most recently Wrightbus' new Routemaster double-decker (with full-door enclosure).

 

The MTA has tried to be on the cutting edge before and failed terribly (Grand Central Shuttle automation fire, R46s, Flxible 870s), so they have become very risk averse when it comes to new things. They would rather have a reliable workhorse than something new and fancy that is more risky. It doesn't help that with such a big fleet that scaling up runs into cost problems; that's why they designed BusTime in house instead of using Clever Devices.

[QM1to6Ave]

The cameras on our buses can be monitored in real time, but are not. The camera footage is only viewed if an incident occurs.

That is too bad. Aside from security concerns, if supervisors were watching in real time, they could see if buses were full and should skip the next few stops to let the following bus pick up the slack. There could be better monitoring of farebeating. There is so much that can be done with that camera data. What a waste.