By Lora Pabst
My story Saturday about a Metro Transit bus driver disciplined for brandishing an ice scraper at an unruly passenger was the talk of the bus garage, if the reactions Iheard from bus drivers are any indication. They shared with me theirexperiences of getting hit or spit on by passengers. The drivers who contacted me after reading the story said they were glad driver safety was getting some attention. While not everyone Iheard fromagreed that ice scrapers should be used to scare off menacing passengers, the drivers saidthey don’t have any other options. One driver said he doesn’t want the public to think that all drivers are scraper-wielding maniacs. He thought the problem would be better addressed by having undercover officers on buses and prosecuting people who spit on or hit bus drivers. In other cities, he has noticed there are signs on buses that say anyone who attacks a bus driver will be prosecuted. He doesn’t know if that will help here, but he said it would be good to remind criminals that they can't get away with assaulting a bus driver. Since this driver was fired in March, why did we write about it now?The Star Tribune didn't know about it until Whistleblower researcher Jane Friedmann found a ruling from a state arbitrator about the case. The arbitrator ruled that the driver should get his job back, but the incident has already prompted discussion by the transit worker’s union and Metro Transit management about whether ice scrapers should be kept on board.
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