Cleveland RTA looks for safety options to protect drivers after operator punched

CLEVELAND - In recent weeks, RTA has been faced with security issues that were brought front and center after video was posted online of a driver punching a passenger. Now, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority is looking at options for safety.

Back in September, RTA bus driver Artis Hughes was caught on camera punching a female passenger, who he said had just punched and spit on him.

Just last week, a passenger punched driver Greg Vranekovik in the face.

RTA said they are now looking at ways to make driving the buses safer for their operators, like a Plexiglass enclosure with a sliding door. Boston is one of the cities using this option.

RTA said they will bring various types into Cleveland, then test installation and work with the drivers to see what they think. It said this will not be an instant process since it has 450 buses in service.

Despite these recent incidents, RTA has only recorded 75 assaults in five years, which equals to about one in every 80,000 trips.

RTA has three rail lines, blue, green and red, with 63 bus routes that provide 200,000 trips every week day serving Cuyahoga County.

It said the majority of customers use their service to get to work every single day. The transit system is used second-most by those going to school. The RTA said other top uses for the service are grocery shopping, church and medical appointments.

RTA said the smallest part of service is for special events like Browns games and Indians games.