West Van Blue Bus drivers voice safety concerns after violent fight breaks out onboard

West Vancouver Blue Bus drivers are asking for more safety measures to be put in place after a ‘bloody’ violent fight in which punches were thrown broke out between passengers onboard a bus Wednesday afternoon.

The call for more protection from the local bus drivers comes amid a rash of violent attacks in the Metro Vancouver transit system including a horrific fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old teen and an attack on a man whose throat was slashed.

In the North Shore incident, a man who showed signs of being mentally ill boarded the 250 Blue Bus to Vancouver near Marine Drive and 20th Street around 2 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, according to Cornel Neagu, president of ATU Local 134 which represents Blue Bus drivers.

Almost immediately, the man began verbally harassing other passengers, said Neagu, who spoke to the bus driver involved. When the man started harassing a woman on the bus, another man confronted him and told him to stop.

“A fight started,” with both men throwing punches, said Neagu.

West Vancouver Police were alerted and arrived soon after.

Sgt. Mark McLean, spokesman for the West Vancouver Police Department, said officers had been in the area looking for a man who had been reported shouting loudly and challenging passersby to a fight on the street when the fight on the bus was reported.

When police arrived, a man – believed to be the same person who had been harassing people on the street – was being held down by other passengers on the bus, said McLean.

Police said both mental health problems and alcohol were likely involved in the incident.

The man, of no fixed address, was taken to Lions Gate Hospital under the Mental Health Act. McLean said he had minor cuts that did not require treatment. Nobody else was injured, said McLean.

Neagu said violent incidents on North Shore buses are unusual, but there has recently been an increase in concerning behaviour. Many of the incidents appear to involve people who board buses while suffering mental health crises, while drunk or high on drugs, he said.

“We’re concerned about our safety and passenger safety,” he said. “It can escalate very easily.”

“We are dealing with challenges every day.”

Neagu said only half of the Blue Bus fleet has protective glass around the driver.

“The Blue Bus system has many women drivers who operate buses at night, and we are particularly concerned about their safety, as well as that of our passengers,” he said.