NJ Transit looks to shield bus drivers
New Jersey Transit plans to add plastic safety shields to protect drivers from violence on its fleet of 2,170 buses.
Retrofitting each bus with the shields, which enclose about 75 percent of the driver’s compartment, will cost about $2,220.
NJ Transit’s board is set to vote on spending up to $1.82 million to outfit 820 buses on Monday.
NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder tells The Record newspaper the agency has already installed safety shields in 70 buses under a pilot program. Snyder says assaults against drivers have dropped from 60 incidents in 2010 to roughly 25 so far this year.
A bus driver in Newark was stabbed seven times last year.
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