Bus operators for King County Metro are evaluating safety partition designs as the agency plans to retrofit up to 1,300 of its 1,400 buses. Existing buses not being upgraded will be replaced by a recent order for 89 new buses that have a partition already installed.
From now through July 5, four buses with different styles of partitions will be touring King County Metro’s bases. The safety partitions, which riders will begin seeing on both new and existing buses later this year, offer increased size and durability to better protect King County Metro bus operators.
“King County is moving forward as quickly as possible to select and install operator safety partitions on every Metro bus, fulfilling our commitment to enhance transit safety for operators and riders,” said King County Executive Shannon Braddock. “We listened to our operators’ feedback, which led to improved, larger partition designs and the installation of safety partitions on the 89 new buses arriving next year.”
From 2023 to 2024, King County Metro’s Care and Presence safety approach led to a 56 percent reduction in operator assaults, according to the agency. King County Metro notes operator assaults further decreased by 20 percent from the first quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025.
“Safety is absolutely paramount, and our bus operators often share with me how important these partitions are to them,” said King County Metro General Manager Michelle Allison. “Operator safety partitions have been a multi-year effort across our agency. I want to thank the many teams involved for getting us to this point and for accelerating the procurement and installation timelines. We’re now on track to begin installation later this year and to reach 100 percent of buses by 2026. That completion date is an improvement of roughly two years from an earlier estimate.”
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587 President Greg Woodfill, who leads King County Metro’s largest labor union, shared his support for the new operator safety partitions, stating, “Stronger and larger operator safety partitions will provide better protection for our operators from assaults and allow them to focus more on safe driving, which ultimately means safer trips for passengers.”
Following operators’ feedback on the potential safety partition features, King County Metro says it will move forward with a procurement process to obtain the equipment for retrofitting its existing buses.
