Fatal stabbing of Metro bus driver deepens worry over transit safety
www.seattletimes.com
Metro and Sound Transit have struggled with violence in recent years, mainly against passengers. The driver’s killing comes days after Metro closed four bus stops, citing safety concerns.
  • Doug Holland@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    7·
    4 days ago

    Every Metro bus has multiple internal cameras, but no photos or videos have been released by police. This murder happened early on 12/18, but more than 24 hours later the only public description of the killer is a UW Police tweet: “The man was described as 6-foot-1, wearing a blue jacket.”

  • kalkulat@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    3 days ago

    The SPD released photos and a name early on Thurs morning. The sooner the better. Sorry that this will probably wind up with drivers in a safety cage.

    They were having so many problems in one part of town that they just quit stopping at those locations.

  • RubberElectrons@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    4 days ago

    In NYC this led to our buses having thick polycarbonate between passengers and the driver. I think it was for the same bus models.

    Rip, bus driver dude. This shouldn’t have happened, and I hope that perp gets picked up soon.

  • Drusas@fedia.io
    23·
    3 days ago

    I realize that there are people who work odd hours, but maybe it’s a little dangerous to be running the buses at 3:00 a.m.

    • Doug Holland@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      5·
      3 days ago

      Like closing down the 12th/Jackson bus stops the day before, do we surrender, or do we have a society?

      • Drusas@fedia.io
        21·
        3 days ago

        That one didn’t make any sense to me. Yes, there is a lot of criminal activity in that vicinity, but it hasn’t spilled into the buses and the streetcar. Why does that need to be closed down 24 hours a day now? It would be better for safety to not run buses as late as they do.

        • Sprocketfree@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          5·
          3 days ago

          Strong disagree. If anything transit should be 24/7 stopping transit at midnight only increases drunk driving incidents.

          • Drusas@fedia.io
            1·
            3 days ago

            I agree, except that I think that shouldn’t be put in place until there is better security on buses. There are cities where the drivers have reinforced plexiglass and such to protect them. We should do that. And probably more, but I’m not an expert on the subject.

            • Sprocketfree@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              1·
              2 days ago

              I don’t know why time of day matters. And that’s all to see lve symptoms not the cause. Like why did someone decide to stab a driver here? This could have happened at 3pm. We live around other people and harm reduction is how we minimize this stuff. It’s also important to note it’s been over 20 years since this happened before. So it’s not a frequent problem, though tragic for the man that died.