Relates to New York city omnibus safety requirements

6 Co-sponsors

• Adriano Espaillat
• Ruth Hassell-Thompson
• Brad Hoylman-Sigal
• Kevin S. Parker
• Diane J. Savino
• Toby Ann Stavisky

BILL NUMBER:S5684A

Title of bill

An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to New York city transit omnibus safety require- ments

Purpose

To mandate a five (5) year transition in which all NYC Transit and any of its subsidiaries operating buses within the city to be retrofitted with a transparent, in whole or in part, partition of sufficient. strength to protect bus drivers from assaults and other illegal contact by passengers thereon. It also requires within a two (2) year period that existing equipment be synchronized so that when an emergency button is activated, the precise location of the bus is indicated to the command center of the transit authority by a GPS device on the bus.

Summary of provisions

Section 1. Sets forth a legislative intent.

Section 2. Adds a new section to title 10 of the NYC Administrative Code, numbered 10-172 that contains a definition subdivision; a subdivi- sion requiring any new bus equipment operated by a transit authority delivering mass transit surface services to be equipped with a partition and synchronized alarm/GPS; a subdivision that requires such transit authority to retrofit its existing fleet of buses within five years on the partition and two years on the synchronized alarm/GPS device.

Section 3. Sets forth an immediate effective date.

Justification

Bus operators of buses on busy urban thoroughfares necessarily have to concentrate on traffic and traffic control devices outside of the vehi- cle. They cannot simultaneously be aware of threats to their person by an assaulting passenger, or avoid dangerous health exposure to unwanted threats presented by a spitting passenger or other behavior by a bellig- erent patron. Many bus drivers are women and are frequently subjected to humiliating and demeaning unwanted touching of their persons by male passengers. Each year incidents of this nature have been increasing and the NYC Transit. authority has begun to slowly install protective partitions to deter misbehavior and protect its employees. This bill would encourage and bring about a quicker universal installation of such partitions.

Existing equipment on NYC Transit buses include a silent alarm apparatus which conveys to the command center of the transit authority that an emergency situation has arisen on the bus and also a GPS device which can convey the precise location of the bus to such center. Currently the two devices are not synchronized so that the activated alarm does not also cause the GPS to convey the location of the bus. There is a need to

coordinate these two pieces of equipment so that the response time by the transit authority and first responders can be significantly short- ened.

Legislative history

None.

Fiscal implications

It is expected that any additional costs would be fully offset by savings from reduced workers compensation costs and reduction in absences from work due to attacks on bus operators.

Effective date

Immediate.