By the Numbers: Attacks on Metrobus Drivers

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WHILE TESTIFYING before the D.C. Council's Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary on Monday, Metro Assistant General Manager for Bus Service Milo Victoria told council members that the number of attacks on Metrobus operators is on the increase. The crime hike is the subject of new legislation, the Transit Operator Protection and Enhanced Penalty Act of 2007.

Here's a look at the threat Metrobus operators face, by the numbers ...

» 5: The number of years assaults have been increasing. The offenses include "spitting on operators; striking operators with closed fist, sticks, bricks and poles; assaults with deadly weapons (for example, guns and knives); fondling and attempting to undress female operators," according to Victoria's testimony.
» 83: The number of Metrobus operator assaults reported throughout the region. Sixty-eight of those were in the District.
» 34: The number of arrests made in the cases of the 83 reported assaults.
» 8,439: The number of work days lost due to Metrobus operator assaults since fiscal 2001. When added up, that's cost Metro $3,304,145.

» "Metro Lobbies for Stricter Penalties for Attacks Against Bus Operators" [WMATA]

Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post