Article: Bus drivers under siege

[ozbob]

From the Sunshine Coast Daily click here!

Bus drivers under siege

Bus drivers under siege

Owen Jacques | 13th December 2010

SUNSHINE Coast bus drivers are under siege from passengers willing to punch, kick and abuse them even while they are trying to steer their buses.

The Coast has been identified as one of the worst areas in the state for assaults on bus drivers, with a worse reputation than Brisbane.

In the past five months, there have been at least six attacks on Sunbus or Translink drivers, the most recent being a daylight attack by a couple who threw punches at a driver while their child looked on.

It is understood the assault, in Caloundra a fortnight ago, was triggered by the driver's refusal to give the man a discounted fare without proper identification.

A Transport Workers Union spokesman said it was a situation made worse because drivers were often reluctant to report incidents as they felt their bosses would take it as an attack on the company.

"The Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Townsville – that is where most of the violence against bus drivers occurs," he said.

"AND yet we rarely hear of instances in Brisbane, which has five times the population of the (Sunshine) Coast."

The wife of a Sunbus driver contacted the Daily, on the condition of anonymity, to tell of her dread when her partner leaves the house for work.

While the driver attacked at Caloundra was not her husband, she said the incident gave an insight into what bus drivers had to deal with almost daily.

"This young couple attacked him over a simple fare," she said.

"They punched him in the face, both of them, stole money and took off.

"But when is it going to be more than a punch in the face?"

Her fears are fed by reports she hears from her partner's colleagues.

"One bus driver was doing 100kmh and he was being punched as well," the woman said yesterday.

"They are being punched, abused and assaulted.

"My partner has had his life threatened by a road rager.

"The drivers don't know if it will be them next or whether they will pick up the passengers who did it."

The hooligan passengers also seem to flaunt the fact that their errant behaviour is being recorded by video cameras.

"They are picked up on camera but you never see it advertised in the paper and Sunbus aren't exactly advertising it.

"Drivers will tell them about the camera and they will give it the finger."

She said it was time for a campaign to remind people that bus drivers were human and deserved respect.

The recent Caloundra attack followed a vicious assault in August when a driver was punched in the face after trying to protect a 16-year-old girl who had been threatened.

Sunbus referred media questions to Queensland Government's Translink which was unable to respond yesterday afternoon.

[#Metro]

Driver training helps. The bus drivers in Brisbane know how to defuse situations AIUI.

[Golliwog]

The onus should not be put on the driver though. These situations are totally not the drivers fault. Do Sunshine Coast buses have CCTV installed like BCC (or the newer ones at least) buses do?

[Arnz]

The onus should not be put on the driver though. These situations are totally not the drivers fault. Do Sunshine Coast buses have CCTV installed like BCC (or the newer ones at least) buses do?

The Bustech VST (and newer XDI/MDI models) bodies in the Sunbus fleet has CCTV installed by default.  It's comes with the buses as part of the standard features.

[longboi]

Not reporting the incidents guarantees nothing gets done about it. It sounds like the culture within sunbus needs to be the first thing to change, along with some tactical communication/defence training for drivers and a regular presence of support staff (i.e. TOs). Once reports start coming in and they have a better idea of the hard statistics, they can target particular locations/routes/times with private security.

[Fares_Fair]

Bus drivers under siege

Owen Jacques | 13th December 2010

Sunbus referred media questions to Queensland Government's Translink which was unable to respond yesterday afternoon.

I wonder if they will respond, their record isn't good.  
Have your say here:
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=5037.msg42593#new [scroll to top of the page]
The TRANSLink 30 day Poll.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[ozbob]

 

[Stillwater]

It is a highly complex issue.  The SC is a network of villages and scattered communities, some large (Nambour, for example), with a concentration of population around the coastal strip from Maroochydore to Caloundra.  Sunbus links them all with a skelton network.  It is expensive to travel by taxi (more than $20 for trip from Nambour to Maroochydore -- okay if five people pile on board).  Gangs of youths catch the buses, with typical gang behaviour on certain days, or certain times of days, sometimes after gang members have been drinking.  People from a certain socio-economic demographic get angry when denied a concession after not producing a concession card (the subject of a recent attack).  I have seen young girls offer the 'please Mr Driver, I don't have any money to get home' excuse; knowing that following the Daniel Morcombe disappearance, Sunbus drivers are under instruction not to leave young people behind at stops.  Those without access to a car resent the relative infrequency of some services and don't see that it offers value for money.  It does!  I stress the problem lies with a small group -- pensioners, seniors, tourists getting around on holidays and regular commuters not a problem.  The worst routes need a security presence.  I am surprised that even when offenders are reminded of the security camera in the bus, some give the big finger to the lense.  It is a community-social responsibility issue among people who are frustrated at limited mobility opportunities, further limited by their lack of cashflow or faced with competing priorities for their dollar.  The problem is not Sunbus, or the drivers, or the standard/frequency of service.  The causes lie beyond the bus.

[#Metro]

School kids should have Go-Card integrated into their ID. One side can be their ID, the other side can be the go card. Just like seniors have now.

In fact, if everybody at school got dual id/go card it might even get more parents letting their kids use PT to get to school rather than the 4WD.

Frequency is the problem that won't go away. Higher frequency = safer because you are off the platform and in a train with other people.

I have had scary experiences on PT:
- I have seen people shoot up with needles on the platform
- I have seen needles in the walkways to train stations
- I have been threatened on a bus for money
- People getting drunk at the rail and bus stops

The buses are generally safer IMHO because nobody hangs around bus stops. The bus stop isn't really a place- its just a pole with a sign!

Train stations are "places" where you can loiter around. Major busway stops don't seem to have this problem, and I think this is due to the better design with lots of glass, light, no carparks surrounding, clear sight lines and high quality surrounds. The newer rail stations have "busway design" about them so should be safer. Its the older stations that look dilapidated or use too much mesh and metal that resembles jails that have the problems.