If you ride King County Metro buses, you’ve seen them: the clear plastic gates known as “sneeze guards,” that swing between the driver and the front door.
They were meant to protect drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic, but aren’t strong enough to thwart an attacker, and with assaults on Metro drivers a continuing problem, the agency and the drivers’ union are looking to install heavier partitions that lock. Plans have been discussed for months but gained political urgency since the fatal stabbing of a bus driver in December.
Drivers could open the new gates when needed, for instance to leave their seat to strap a customer’s wheelchair in place, or reset a dislodged trolleybus pole to the outdoor power wires.
“If nothing else, it brings some operators some peace of mind,” said Greg Woodfill, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587 president. “Some of them are terrified to go to work. … It’s not the total solution, but it’s a start.”