Latest news with #AmalgamatedTransitUnion
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Plan to better shield Winnipeg bus drivers moving ahead
Jeff Keele reports on the city's search for a manufacturer to build an improved shield to protect bus drivers. The City of Winnipeg has released an expression of interest to see if someone can make an extension or full shield to completely surround drivers on transit buses. Shields were installed on all city buses in 2019, following the 2017 stabbing death of a driver. Right now they cover most of the area around the driver's seat. Amalgamated Transit Union President Chris Scott said it protects drivers from getting sucker punched from behind but still leaves them vulnerable. 'Now assailants have become more brazen and they're now reaching around the shield to get at the operator to the point where they're even grabbing the steering wheel, which puts everybody on the bus and outside the bus in jeopardy,' said Scott. Public Works Committee Chair, Coun. Janice Lukes, agrees. 'It's a different world now, unfortunately, it is a different world now, it's a crazy world,' said Lukes. Both Lukes and Scott say the option to replace the current ones with a full shield might make the most sense for both safety and cost. 'I'm hoping it comes back and we get a reasonable price on a full wrap-around (shield). That's what I'm hoping for,' said Lukes. 'If an extension is going to cost $10,000 to $15,000 and we can find a full enclosure for that price from a provider, then why not put the smart money on the full enclosure?' said Scott. Lukes said there is around $2.4 million in the budget for the shield upgrades. She said that might not be enough to retrofit all 600 buses but suggested the province could help foot the bill.
CBC
2 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Winnipeg Transit considering shield extensions or full enclosures to better protect drivers
Social Sharing Winnipeg Transit is exploring options for new shields to provide increased safety to drivers. Currently, all buses in the fleet have partial shields, which the city installed in response to rising concerns about violence, including the stabbing death of driver Jubal Fraser in 2017. The union representing drivers says safety remains a problem for both operators and passengers, after it recorded 37 safety incidents on Winnipeg Transit buses in April — the highest monthly total since it began tracking in 2020, it said. Now, the city has put out an expression of interest as it considers whether to install extensions to the existing shields, or move to a fully enclosed safety barrier. Chris Scott, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, says he strongly supports the latter option. "We want the city to spend the taxpayers' money wisely," and shield extensions wouldn't do that, he said. "To spend money on an extension at the risk of the assaults or security incidents escalating only means that in the future, they'll have to invest in full compartment enclosures anyway." The partial barriers were installed to prevent people running up and "sucker-punching" drivers, but people have now figured out ways to get around them, Scott said. "If we go with just the extension, that will be effective in the short term. But in the long term … [attackers] will adapt to further escalate their levels of violence." The City of Winnipeg budgeted $2.7 million for the new shields in 2024. Public works committee chair Coun. Janice Lukes doesn't believe that will be enough on its own to outfit every bus in the fleet, but she hopes other funding, like the Canada public transit fund announced by the federal government earlier this year, could be used to cover the full cost. Scott says he has heard conflicting reports about the relative costs of shield extensions versus full enclosures. Extensions can cost between $10,000 and $12,000. Some reports have indicated full enclosures would run about the same price, but others have listed prices for full enclosures as high as $25,000. Although she hasn't made up her mind regarding which option she prefers, Lukes says she's open to purchasing the full shields if the drivers want them. "I want what works best to keep the staff safe," the Waverley West councillor said. "If the staff feel a full shield will do the job, if we can get a full shield at a reasonable price, why wouldn't we do that?"
CTV News
28-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Council approves $15-million plan to better protect bus drivers
Nearly two weeks after a Calgary bus driver was beaten and stabbed, city councillors unanimously approved a motion to spend millions of dollars to upgrade barriers to better protect transit operators. Nearly two weeks after a Calgary bus driver was beaten and stabbed, city councillors unanimously approved a motion to spend millions of dollars to upgrade barriers to better protect transit operators. Training and safety protocols will also be reviewed. Two men face charges after a bus driver was assaulted in the early morning hours of May 14. Darryl Flett, 22, and Curtis Baker Spence, 20, are each charged with aggravated assault in relation to the attack. According to the union representing transit workers, the victim is now out of hospital, but 'the road to recovery is going to be incredibly long,' said Mike Mahar with the Amalgamated Transit Union. 'He is bedridden and he gets up and every day he has to go for medical treatments for his hands and for all the wounds on his head,' Mahar added. As part of a discussion about the future of Calgary Transit, councillors voted in favour of recommending spending up to $15 million on a plan that includes installing upgraded barriers for drivers. The city will also install safety signage to alert people to the consequences of harassing or assaulting drivers. Although assaults are rare, Mahar says verbal abuse and threats against transit operators happen nearly every day. The city will also review transit safety and training practices on trains and buses. 'I think it's fantastic. I think that getting it done right now, while the window is there, is so essential,' said Mahar. The spending ask will be added to the city's high-priority requests at next month's Strategic Council Meeting.
CBC
23-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Contractors submitting proposals for work along Hamilton LRT track
The Ontario government is reporting another step forward in Hamilton's long-awaited LRT construction. The province has invited four teams to submit proposals for work including building and relocating infrastructure and traffic control signals along the planned 14-kilometre route, the Ministry of Transportation said in a news release Wednesday. This process started in November when the province asked contractors to pre-apply to submit proposals for work. At the time, the Transport Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said we were "one step closer" to seeing shovels in the ground, which is also what he said in a Wednesday news release. He has not shared when the LRT might open. Provincial transit agency Metrolinx is progressing on "advanced early works projects," with five completed and four more underway, including water main, hydro and telecommunications upgrades, interim president Michael Lindsay said in the news release. "We're excited to continue working collaboratively with the federal and provincial governments as well as the City of Hamilton to deliver this important transit project." It's still unclear who will operate the LRT. After much debate last year, Hamilton city council decided to recommend the line be operated by a third party for the first 10 years of its life, before being taken over by the municipality. That was contrary to the wishes of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents city bus drivers. In November, then-Metrolinx-CEO Phil Verster said the agency had not made that decision. The province says the LRT will have 17 stops, running from McMaster University in the city's west to Eastgate Square in the east. It is expected to serve 50,000 daily commuters. The $3.4-billion project is part of a number of transit projects the province has promised, including eventually establishing faster, all-day GO Transit on "core routes" including the Lakeshore lines between the GTA and Niagara.
CBC
16-05-2025
- CBC
Transit union leaders call for increased security
Police have laid charges against two men accused of attacking a Calgary Transit driver earlier this week. We talk to Mike Mahar, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 583, about the incident.
