City takes further steps to protect transit drivers

The city is going to further lengths to protect Sudbury Transit operators from assaults and to restore passenger confidence in the overall safety of the local public transit system.

The Greater Sudbury Transit Safety Task Force, created last month at the request of Mayor Marianne Matichuk following recent assaults or threats against transit operators, is outfitting the transit fleet with a silent alarm system attached to new mobile radio units.

The alarms will alert supervisors who will log into the radio frequency to hear and record events as they occur on the bus, contacting police when necessary.
Surveillance cameras have already been approved by council for installation on all buses. A Request for Proposal has been issued to potential vendors and installation will be complete over the coming months.

A sample driver barrier has been requested from Nova Bus, the manufacturer of the Greater Sudbury Transit fleet, for evaluation and feedback from bus operators.

“Having led this process, I’m very pleased with the progress that has been made to date by the Transit Safety Task Force,” said Matichuk.

“I’m confident that with continued commitment from the many partners I invited to the table, we can continue to build a safe and effective transit system for operators and customers in Greater Sudbury.”

“Safe working conditions for our bus operators is our priority,” said CUPE Local 4705 President Rick Leroux. “We welcome the opportunity to work with management to achieve an end to unacceptable incidents on board our public transit system.”

Purchase and installation of the radio units are part of an overall contract approved by council in 2012 to replace and modernize the radio system used by police, fire and transit.

The approximate $275,000 cost of the video surveillance system is supported by Ontario’s Gas Tax Fund.