'It's a lot to deal with': MCTS drivers discuss safety concerns
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Public transit drivers, in harm's way. The problem's nationwide. In Milwaukee, MCTS operators say they're no better off months after the county earmarked additional funds for driver safety.
This is surveillance from a Milwaukee County bus in 2020.
"It's a lot to deal with out there. It's a lot to deal with," said Jasper Griffin, MCTS driver for the last 19 years.
This was the suspect in last summer's shooting on a county bus.
Suspect wanted in shooting on Milwaukee County bus
Now, MCTS operators opened up at a union safety meeting on Wednesday, March 20, about their fears.
"It's not safe at all and we shouldn't have to drive like that," said Tracie Bumper, MCTS driver.
Tracie Bumper's been with MCTS for 11 years. Unruly passengers have made it hard.
"I can drive this bus better than my car, but when you're on that bus and you're feeling threatened, that is like the worst feeling in the world," said Bumper.
Last year, the county board approved a proposal to add "Transit Rangers" to the 2024 budget, but it never got signed by County Executive David Crowley.
"That unfortunately failed. We threw a couple extra dollars at the current bad system and unsurprisingly it's still bad," said Milwaukee County Board Supervisor Ryan Clancy.
County Executive David Crowley sent us a statement today saying, "The proposal didn’t provide any more authority than our current transit security officers have. Yet the proposal would have cost a fiscally unsustainable amount, without any additional authority for those officers."
Months later, these drivers say the system's still failing and many incidents go unreported.
"It'd be like why am I gonna report it cause they're not gonna do anything," said Bumper.
Drivers who've gone on the record tell us they've been threatened with many various types of weapons including knives, a karate stick, a machete, and right here at 35th and Burleigh today, a gun.
"The guy is like four feet from me, reaches in his pocket, pulls out a pistol, says 'I see you' and fires a shot, pow. I mean, my ear's still ringing from that," said Griffin.
It's not the first time Jasper Griffin's been threatened in his 19-year career.
"He gets off the bus with his friends and pulls out a gun and threatened to blow my blankety blank head off," said Griffin.
MCTS tells us they've been trying to work with the union. In the words of their president and managing director Denise Wandke, "There's no fight. We want our bus operators safe. We want a good culture. We want to make sure that everybody has a voice."