A SEPTA bus driver suffered non-life-threatening cuts to his face and abdomen on Saturday afternoon when he was attacked by a passenger in Delaware County.A SEPTA bus driver suffered non-life-threatening cuts to his face and abdomen on Saturday afternoon when he was attacked by a passenger in Delaware County. The incident occurred around 1 p.m. near the intersection of Church Lane and Connell Avenue in Yeadon Borough, outside Southwest Philadelphia. The 31-year-old driver of the Route 108 bus was taken to the hospital and was in stable condition Saturday evening. The passenger, who had boarded the bus at 69th Street, got off at the Yeadon stop and then pulled out a knife or other sharp object to attack the driver. SEPTA is reviewing video footage from the bus to determine what led to the attack. Additional SEPTA officers were sent to the area to assist local police in the search for the attacker. Attacks on bus drivers and other transit workers have increased across the United States and Canada in recent years. In Philadelphia, attacks on SEPTA transit workers nearly quadrupled from 2019 to 2020, at the start of the pandemic, and have remained high. According to SEPTA’s incident reports, riders spat at operators 242 times from early 2017 through April 2022, and there were 53 physical assaults in 2022, up from 13 in 2018.
A SEPTA bus driver suffered cuts to his face and abdomen Saturday afternoon when he was attacked by a passenger in Delaware County.
The 31-year-old driver of the Route 108 bus was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He was in stable condition Saturday evening.
The attack happened around 1 p.m. near the intersection of Church Lane and Connell Avenue in Yeadon Borough, outside Southwest Philadelphia.
The passenger, who had boarded at 69th Street, got off the bus at the Yeadon stop and then pulled out a knife or other sharp object to attack the driver, who had been employed by SEPTA earlier this year, said SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch.
” READ MORE: SEPTA drivers are increasingly becoming victims of abuse and assault, and some say the agency isn’t doing enough to protect them.
It was not immediately clear what came before the attack. SEPTA is reviewing video footage from the bus.
“We don’t know for sure what happened to the passenger,” Busch said. “That’s under investigation.”
Busch said additional SEPTA officers were sent to the Yeadon area to assist local police in the search for the attacker.
“When we see an operator or other frontline worker being attacked and injured, it is dealt with as a matter of urgency,” he said.
Attacks on bus drivers and other transit workers have increased dramatically in recent years across the United States and Canada. In Philadelphia, attacks on SEPTA transit workers nearly quadrupled from 2019 to 2020, at the start of the pandemic, and have remained high, The Inquirer reported last year.
“The system has been under attack” by people struggling with mental illness, homelessness or drug addiction, says Brian Pollitt, president of Transport Workers Union Local 234, which represents SEPTA transit workers, told The Inquirer at the time:
“The job is a lot more rewarding now than it was when I started here,” said Pollitt, who began his career as a bus driver for SEPTA 34 years ago.
Riders spat at SEPTA operators 242 times from early 2017 through April 2022, according to the transit agency’s incident reports. There were 53 physical assaults in 2022, up from 13 in 2018.
