A youth was arrested for assault with a weapon after bear spray was used on a bus driver in James Bay on Monday night.
The latest assault on bus drivers has the union representing drivers concerned about safety amid random attacks.
Victoria police responded to a call at about 7:45 p.m. from B.C. Transit at Government and Superior streets where the driver had stopped at the terminus near the legislature.
Officers arrested the 15-year-old male suspect, who was later released and returned to his residence.
The driver was not injured and declined medical attention, suffering minor effects from the bear spray fumes, said Unifor 333 president Stephen Bains. He met with the driver on Tuesday morning to discuss the attack.
In the past month, transit buses have been the target of two bear spray releases, one among passengers and Monday’s incident where the driver was sprayed through a partially opened window.
Bains said the driver attempted to intervene when two male teenagers were arguing with a female in a group outside the bus during a layover.
“The operator felt that the female was needing some sort of assistance and when he attempted to lend a hand, the other two formed some sort of opinion about the operator,” said Bains. “The spray was deployed on the outside of the bus at the left corner where the driver window was partially opened.”
Transit drivers have suffered assaults ranging from being physically attacked to being spit upon.
“Without a doubt we are seeing abnormal outbursts by various members of our society,” Bains said. “And unfortunately our members have suffered various injuries. Whenever something like this happens, an injury to one is an injury to us all, and that does make us step back and evaluate what is happening with public transit and how we can make it better.”
He said Unifor 333 BC had been fighting for driver barriers since 2015, when an unprovoked attack seriously injured a driver and several other attacks followed.
The plexi-glass barriers were installed during 2020 and 2021 when the bulk of the fleet was retrofitted, but Bains said it was only expedited because of the protection measures mandated by the pandemic.
“[The barriers] do prevent sucker punches and protect against attacks from passengers standing in the aisle,” said Bains. “But it does not leave our members totally immune to being assaulted. Quite honestly the union position is that there are better driver barriers out there on the market.”
Bains said transit emergency services and supervisors responded quickly.
Bains noted that the driver in Monday’s assault held no animosity toward the alleged attacker.
“The one message he had is it’s important for society to remain empathetic, that these outbursts happen for a reason, and while we continue to fight for a better transit system it’s also imperative that we as a society come together to also fight for better social supports and ensure that mental health is being treated appropriately and that we don’t always identify someone as some sort of villain and discard them.”
In a statement, B.C. Transit said “incidents of this nature are uncommon on our buses. Our thoughts are with the victim of this assault … any acts of violence, either physical or verbal, against customers or transit employees are completely unacceptable.”
Transit said safety systems are in place to support drivers in dealing with challenging situations, including security cameras to support internal and police investigations, operator emergency notification protocols and enhanced radio communications, and partnerships with first responders including police, fire and ambulance to support quicker responses to transit related incidents
