Transit workers memorial marks one-year anniversary of driver’s death

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This article was published 14/02/2018 (2792 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In a sober reminder of the danger they face while on the job, city Transit workers held a memorial Wednesday to mark the one-year anniversary of the stabbing death of their colleague.

It took place the same day that police sought the public’s help to find a suspect in the latest assault against a bus driver, and the Free Press reviewed updated statistics about the number of assaults on drivers.

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 a held a vigil for Irvine Jubal Fraser, who was stabbed last Valentine’s Day at the last stop on his route at the University of Manitoba campus. A 23-year-old man, who was a passenger on the bus, has been charged with second-degree murder.

“Today, we’re gathered to commemorate his memory and to make it clear that one life lost on the job is too many. Our union has, and will continue to work with everyone, to ensure that our workplace, Winnipeg Transit, is safe for operators and riders,” said union president Aleem Chaudhary.

Police said Wednesday, the most recent incident of a driver being assaulted happened Jan. 21 around 4:35 p.m. A man got on a bus at Portage Avenue and Fort Street and told the driver he didn’t have money to pay the fare. A short time later, he punched the driver and fled.

Meantime, statistics obtained through a freedom-of-information request show that that most dangerous shift last fall involved the No. 16 bus route in the late afternoon.

Data show there were 51 assaults on drivers in 2017. Forty-six of them were level one, four were level two assaults and one was level three — the stabbing death of Fraser on Feb. 14.

The assault levels are broken down by the city:

The No. 16 bus, which travels between Selkirk Avenue in the North End and Osborne Street, registered seven assaults. The No. 14 bus, which travels from St. Mary’s Road to Ellice Avenue, ranked second-worst with five assaults.

The most assaults happened during the afternoon rush hour, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Meantime, October and November had the most run-ins, with seven and eight assaults, respectively.

Acting Winnipeg Transit director Greg Ewankiw said changing abusive behaviour on buses is a challenge.

“We board approximately 170,000 people per day and so there’s a lot going on,” he said. “This is a challenge that’s being seen all across Canada, really across North America, and there isn’t really any single one method (to fix the problem).”

The city’s transit advisory committee is considering whether to put police officers on buses on a regular basis.

Beat officers currently ride as much as they can in accordance with their busy schedules, Winnipeg Police Const. Rob Carver said.

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @_jessbu