Columbia rolls out bus safety campaign amid concerns over violence, misconduct from passengers
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The City of Columbia is rolling out a new safety campaign to try and curb the number of fights on public buses.
On Thursday, city staff began putting up posters for a new “Ride With Respect” campaign.
Each poster outlines guidelines for passengers with expectations for language, personal items and pet carriers. According to a spokesman from the Public Works Department, John Ogan, the campaign was spearheaded by the city’s bus drivers.
“These posters are not in reaction to any specific incident, but really it's something that the drivers asked us to come up with,” Ogan said. “They just wanted to set standards for the passengers and for the riders so that they can they could identify when people are in violation of the rules somehow in a respectful way.”
Multiple drivers expressed concerns to ABC 17 News in August after a video surfaced of two men in the back of a bus throwing punches as other frightened passengers screamed at them to stop. With little space on the bus, innocent bystanders were crammed shoulder to shoulder waiting to get to their next stop.
Travis McMullen has lived in Columbia for 15 years and said he rides the bus nearly every day. According to McMullen these types of incidents are not unusual.
“People [are] in a crowded area and trying to get to-and-from places. So, you know, tempers flare and people are people,” McMullen said.
Incident reports from August and September detail instances of passengers drinking on the bus, passing out and falling out of seats, and loud verbal arguments.
Lawrenz Carter said he uses public transportation three times a week. During his 38 years in Columbia, he has witnessed these types of incidents firsthand.
“In the past, there has been a lot of harassment on the bus. Everybody is getting really agitated with each other and starting arguments and stuff like that. So I mean, it's probably a really good thing,” Carter said when asked about the new posters.
The “Ride With Respect” posters were put up on Thursday and can be seen inside buses and around Wabash Station on North Tenth Street. Ogan said the goal of the posters is to help increase safety and make public transit a more welcoming space.
“These posters are simply a way to establish what the rules are so that when people write our busses, the drivers and other passengers can point to them and let people know that they may not be in agreement with some of these rules and the consequences for breaking them, at least at first, you might be told, ‘Please don't do that’. After that, you may be asked to leave the bus. And if you consistently break some of these guidelines that we've provided, you may not be asked to come back,” Ogan said.
Carter said the campaign is a positive first step.
“We aren't as civil as we should be with each other. And hopefully, that might just be enough just to show that they actually acknowledge the fact that there has been a little bit of inconvenience and uncomfortably on the bus,” Carter said.
McMullen is a bit more skeptical, saying there is a 50/50 chance the flyers will have an impact.
“Sometimes people do need to be reminded of the table manners, and if people are going to follow them, they're going to follow them. If not, you already know, is going to happen,” McMullen said.
A Go COMO study completed in September recommended splitting the current Saftey and Training Supervisor role into two separate positions to help place a greater emphasis on safety. One of the biggest complaints among passengers has been the reduction of bus routes in recent years.
Ogan told ABC 17 News in April that a driver shortage prevented the city from restoring the routes to pre-August 2023 service levels.
Go COMO is currently fare-free. However, McMullen says he would be open to paying fares if it meant adding additional routes. Carter said the lack of routes has been a major inconvenience for people who rely on public transportation to get to work, but added that adding fares would have a negative impact on him.
“I think charging fare for the bus is probably the worst thing we could probably do given that we have a very large homeless rate out here right now and our job prospects are very low, I think it would probably be a very negative thing for us,” Carter said.
