The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has unveiled new prototypes designed to protect bus operators from potential assaults and prevent collisions with side mirrors. New York City (NYC) Transit is testing and evaluating the efficacy of a fully enclosed operator compartment prototype for bus operators designed to cover operators by providing a sturdy, physical barrier separate from the public area. Since 2017, the entire local bus fleet has been equipped with physical barriers that partially enclose operators. The new protype extends the physical barrier to the interior roof of the bus and includes additional larger glass on the operator’s compartment door and a fixed glass in front of the door.
The device aims to protect bus operators from objects being thrown and prevent potential physical assaults to safely operate the bus, allowing the operator to be better protected and customers to have full access to the farebox for payment and accessible boarding. MTA says two manufacturers have retrofitted two buses not currently in service respectively for ongoing testing and evaluation.
“Keeping bus operators and customers safe is paramount to NYC Transit’s North Star of providing faster, cleaner and safer service,” said NYC Transit President Richard Davey. “We’re excited to see the results from the testing period of these prototypes and look forward to continuing to innovate and modernize the system to protect everyone’s safety.”
“NYC Transit is committed to protecting bus operators by providing the safest working environment so they can deliver for their customers every day,” said NYC Transit Senior Vice President of Buses Frank Annicaro. “Prevention is key to safety and the goal of these new design features on buses is to ensure operators remain safe from harm while also protecting customers on their journeys to their destination.”
NYC Transit has installed and is testing the effectiveness of e-mirrors on several buses now in service, with the goal of reducing collisions. In 2022, bus side mirrors struck 18,000 objects, totaling about 25 percent of all bus collisions. Using cameras located on the bus’s exterior, e-mirrors provide digital screens that show the surroundings of a bus to the operator, giving them a wider field of view on both sides of the bus. These new e-mirror prototypes have now been installed on five buses across a variety of routes in the system for testing and evaluation.
"Like airplanes, the pilots are protected. “It's the same thing with the bus operators," said Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Richard Davis. "We want to make sure bus operators come to work, go home safely and be protected from the public."
