In the wake of a violent and brutal attack on an L.A. Dash bus operator Sunday, as well as a series of other attacks on Metro buses and trains, some riders who spoke with KTLA said safety concerns are top of mind on the city and county’s public transit systems.
Yesterday’s attack, which was captured on video, reportedly occurred after the Dash driver refused to allow a homeless woman on the bus.
Dash buses, which are operated by the L.A. Department of Transportation, have been free to ride since March 2020.
Footage of the incident obtained by KTLA showed the violent struggle between the female bus operator and the homeless woman, who was able to drag the driver, who had been behind a plexiglass barrier, off the bus and onto the sidewalk.
The driver fought back as the homeless woman continued the violent attack, pulling on the bus operator’s uniform and landing at least one blow to her face, video showed.
After several heated minutes of the violent altercation, the bus operator was able to get back into her vehicle and shut the homeless woman out before driving off.
Dash passenger Sandra Pizano told KTLA she’s had no issues on the city bus service, but is wary of riding Metro buses and trains, which are operated by the county’s Metropolitan Transit Authority.
“I’d rate them a D,” Pizano said of Metro. “I know they’re trying, but something is not working.”
On May 3, dozens of Metro operators staged a “sick out” over ongoing safety concerns after a series of violent and even deadly attacks on bus and train drivers and passengers.
On April 22, a Metro train passenger was stabbed to death on her way home from work in Studio City. Authorities said her attacker was a transient.
Earlier in the month, a bus driver was stabbed by a passenger in Willowbrook, and in March, a transient armed with an airsoft gun hijacked a Metro bus and crashed into the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Los Angeles.
Last week, a member of the LA Metro board said she wouldn’t ride the bus alone because she was concerned for her personal safety.
“Bus drivers, Metro drivers, they’re being attacked,” Earl Hutchinson, President of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff.
Hutchinson’s organization is now calling for roving security teams on public transit in the city.
“That would provide a measure not only of security, but also give drivers and train operators a sense of, ‘We’re being protected,’” he added.
A spokesperson for Metro told KTLA that many of these unprovoked attacks are part of the “twin crisis” of untreated mental illness and drug addiction. In a statement, Metro went on to say:
“Transit security officers are now riding the top 10 bus lines that have experienced greater number of operator assaults and we are working on longer term plans, which include the addition of even more dedicated transit security bus riding teams.”
Bus rider Laura Ismael told KTLA that she’s hoping these actions produce results fast.
“The bus drivers do need protection as well as the riders,” she said. “Someone has to do something about it and soon before it gets worse.”
The woman from Sunday’s attack in South L.A. was arrested, though it’s unclear what charges she will face.
KTLA reached out to the Dash driver’s union to see if she suffered any injuries and are waiting to hear back.