SEPTA tests bullet-resistant glass enclosures aimed at protecting Philly bus drivers

Philadelphia’s public transit system is moving forward with plans to test-run bullet-resistant glass enclosures for drivers on city buses, joining other cities hoping to provide more protection for drivers who often face violence and harassment from passengers.

Law enforcement officers fired at a prototype and other samples of the material used in the enclosures in a demonstration staged Tuesday in Bedminster by Custom Glass Solutions, the firm that’s making the cockpit-like enclosures.

They are among safety improvements included in a new contract the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, the nation’s sixth-largest mass transit system, reached in November with its biggest workers union.

SEPTA said it initially will run eight buses with the compartments to see what, if any, adjustments are needed and to get driver feedback. Those buses are expected to start moving out within a few weeks.

It costs about $15,000 to $18,000 to outfit a bus with the enclosure, said Tony Ritchie, Custom Glass Solutions’ business development manager. He said bus operators and transit union officials from Houston, Miami and other major cities attended the demonstration.

“The entire barrier — the glass, the door — nobody’s getting through this,” Ritchie said. “We decided to come up with a barrier that provided the ultimate protection, so transit authorities wouldn’t need to keep revisiting this problem over and over again. This absolutely is going to save tons of lives.”

Philadelphia moved to install the compartments in part after the fatal shooting of a SEPTA bus driver by a passenger in October 2023. Safety concerns were raised again last year following a spate of shootings on the transit system, including one in which eight high school students waiting to board a SEPTA bus after class were wounded by gunshots from suspects who jumped from a car and opened fire.

Philadelphia is among several major U.S. cities working to improve driver safety by installing driver cockpits or other partitions. In December, Los Angeles Metro announced it had completed installation of shatterproof glass barriers on its more than 2,000 buses.

John Samuelsen, international president of the Transport Workers Union of America, said attacks on bus drivers is “the dirty secret of public transit in America.” He said that in New York City and Philadelphia combined there are more than 20 assaults a week against operators.

“Anybody who thinks (these types of enclosures) are not necessary should get behind the wheel of a bus in urban America,” Samuelson said.

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Associated Press Video Journalist Tassanee Vejpongsa contributed to this story.