Bus driver and passengers say Go COMO public transit system is overcrowded, unsafe

Editor's note: A quote has been corrected.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

It's a hot day on a crammed city bus when a fight breaks out.

Two men in the back of the bus throw punches. Other passengers are yelling at them to stop or get out. There's hardly even any room to fight, as people are standing shoulder to shoulder, waiting to get to their next stop.

This is what happened on the Orange Route of the Go COMO Public Transit system on July 25, and it's not the only safety concern.

A driver for Go COMO, who wished to remain anonymous due to fear of losing their job, said belligerent passenger behavior on the bus has gotten out of hand, including fights, smoking and public intoxication.

They said something needs to change before someone ends up getting hurt.

"The next thing you know, somebody's going to either get shot, stabbed or seriously hurt," the driver said.

Incident reports ABC 17 News obtained from the City of Columbia show bus drivers have reported multiple instances of rule violations in 2024.

An April report states, "Passenger punched me in my right shoulder three times."

Two reports in July mention rule violations including, "Had a guy on my bus that was drunk," and "Disoriented customer without shoes."

An August report details a passenger threatening and cussing out a driver after the driver attempted to strap in their wheelchair for safety reasons.

The Go COMO driver said it's situations like these that are keeping students and working-class people from riding the bus, and causing drivers to get fed up and start looking for other jobs.

"The problem is, all the drivers love their jobs ... but they've got a family to support, too," the driver said. "They want to go home at night and not wind up in the hospital or in the morgue."

'I was very afraid'

In the incident report for the fight on July 25, the bus driver on that route states two men got into an argument as the Orange Route bus was headed to the Ashley Street Center, a service for homeless people. One man tried to pull another man out the rear door, and when the door closed, the man punched the bus, busting a window.

The City of Columbia said the cost to repair that window was $85.

After that, the driver writes, the man still on the bus started fighting with another man. The driver called dispatch, who told her to open the doors until the two men exited the bus. One of the men tried to re-enter, but she denied him entry.

The driver finished her entry by writing, "I was very afraid, please take me off that route."

Go COMO passenger Gregory Silvey, who uses the services at Turning Point, was on the bus that day and witnessed the fight.

"It was overcrowded, people are already hot and they're very moody and they're trying to get somewhere and people [are] bumping up against them," Silvey said.

The bus driver who spoke with ABC 17 News said he has sometimes had over 50 people on a bus at once, saying he's been told there is no limit on how many people can be on the bus.

The driver said the route where they see this the most is the Orange Route running from the Turning Point Day Center on Wilkes Boulevard to Loaves and Fishes at the Ashley Street Center, both of which are services for the homeless population.

Public transit in Columbia has been free since the pandemic, which the driver said has resulted in people staying on the bus all day to get in the air conditioning or get out of the rain.

Both the driver and passengers said overcrowding on the buses poses a safety concern in itself.

"If the bus were to stop real quick with people standing up in it, somebody's going to get hurt," said passenger Daren Hart, who also uses Turning Point's services.

'Still within safety parameters'

However, Columbia Public Works spokesperson John Ogan said the number of people on the bus is not unsafe.

"What we're seeing on the buses with the current state is still within safety parameters of what you might see in other cities," Ogan said. "The buses are designed for passengers to be both seated or standing in order to reach their destination."

The city combined bus routes in August 2023 due to staff shortages. This has caused fewer buses to be running and longer times in between stops at each location.

Orange Route ridership was 3,711 in October last year but had risen to 5,314 by this June.

Ogan said the city currently has 32 bus drivers, but needs between 36-40 drivers before it can end route combining and run more buses.

"We continue to struggle to attract people, but we have put improvements in place such as the pay raises, removal of required overtime in the quantities that led up to route combining," Ogan said.

Passengers said they believe more buses would help solve some of their concerns.

"[The bus] has too many people, not enough seating. We need better routes, better buses," Silvey said. "The system needs to be overhauled."

However, the bus driver said the city needs to get tougher.

The driver said when they bring up safety issues to supervisors, they are told things need to go before city council. But Ogan said to his knowledge, there is nothing in the works to be presented to city council.

Ogan said the vast majority of issues on the bus are not violent.

"At this time, considering staffing and budgetary needs, what we have is being deployed in the appropriate ways," Ogan said.

When a rule violation occurs on the bus, Ogan said proper procedure is for the driver to first try to verbally diffuse the situation. If that doesn't work, the driver then radios dispatch who can call 911 and get proper assistance to the bus.

The city also contracts with Citadel Security at its Wabash Bus Station in Downtown Columbia.

A Columbia Police Department spokesperson said CPD had no record of responding to the July 25 fight.

While dispatch takes drivers' calls seriously, the driver said the city needs to be tougher on banning riders from the bus when rule violations occur.

Ogan said if riders do not comply with rules, the bus driver is obligated to tell the passenger to get off the bus at that time. However, neither Ogan or the driver could describe a specific policy relating to banning rule violators from riding the bus in the future.

The bus driver also said bringing back bus fares could help limit the number of people riding the bus.

"That way we'd stop people from just riding the bus all day long, taking up the room for the people that are going back and forth to work," the driver said.

The Columbia City Council said in a budget work session in July that public transit will remain free at the start of fiscal 2025, which begins Oct. 1, but will continue to be evaluated throughout the year. Ward 2 Councilwoman Lisa Meyer brought the topic up again at the Aug. 5 meeting, but was met with harsh criticism by advocacy group Hold Como Accountable.

As of last week, Meyer said no action has yet been taken.

The driver said another possibility could be shuttles for homeless people that go from Turning Point Day Center to the Ashley Street Center. John Trapp, executive director of the Room at the Inn shelter, which is housed at the Ashley Street Center, said they run a shuttle in the mornings and on Sunday evenings, but rely on the city buses the rest of the time.