LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A proposal within the Nevada Legislature would require public transit corporations to put in security limitations and panic buttons amid an uptick in driver assaults.
Democratic Assem. Linda Hunt launched Meeting Invoice 361, which might amend state regulation to use to bus companies in counties with 100,000 individuals or extra.
Key elements of the proposal embrace the barrier set up and signage to alert passengers about potential felony penalties. The security measures can be required on any transit automobile that requires a business driver’s license.
The proposal comes a month after a person attacked a driver after which drove a bus in northern Nevada, Ross Kinson, the president of the Northern Nevada Central Labor Council, testified Thursday.
Passenger-on-operator assaults have remained regular in Clark County over the previous a number of years, in response to information the 8 Information Now Investigators obtained. In fiscal yr 2022, the Regional Transportation Fee recorded 32 assaults. In 2023, the quantity was 35.
That yr, the 8 Information Now Investigators reported on a number of high-profile incidents on RTC buses, together with a homicide. On the time, transit operators mentioned they didn’t really feel protected.
In 2024, the variety of passenger-on-operator assaults quantity dipped barely to 26.
“Public transit should not be a dangerous profession,” Kinson mentioned. “Many of these workers are older adults or single parents who take on these jobs because they offer flexibility and a livable wage.”
RTC buses have already got limitations and panic buttons, although drivers have mentioned they’re ineffective or inoperable. RTC employed a brand new senior director of safety in late 2023.
A number of individuals testified in favor of the invoice Thursday. No particular person testified in opposition to the proposal.
