CAPALABA bus interchange is one of south-east Queensland’s hotspots for violence against bus drivers, according to the Transport Workers Union.
Queensland branch secretary Peter Biagini said members had reported growing concerns about feeling unsafe at night, with reports of thugs loitering at bus interchanges after dark.
He said areas like Capalaba, together with Ipswich, the Gold Coast and Cairns, had been identified as hotspots, with a state-wide plan needed to help keep bus drivers and their passengers safe from assaults.
“Drivers express concerns all over Queensland,” Mr Biagini said.
“The safety of bus drivers needs a comprehensive Queensland-wide plan, which will have all operators on the TransLink network pitch in to keep their employees safe while delivering a vital community service.”
Last week, a 41-year-old Transdev bus driver was assaulted at Capalaba bus interchange.
Police said he was punched, dragged out from the bus and then further assaulted after telling a group of men the bus was not in service.
Mr Biagini repeated his calls for operators to install driver barriers to keep their employees safe while on the job.
Unions have long pushed for the measure, including after a bus driver was punched at the Capalaba interchange four years ago.
The driver barrier recommendation was also made in a bus driver safety review by audit group Deloitte last year.
The report was commissioned by the state government in September 2016, a month before bus driver Manmeet Sharma died after was fatally set alight at Moorooka.
Mr Biagini said more needed to be done but progress to keep drivers safer was being made.
Operators could apply for co-funding from the state government to install protection barriers in buses used on runs in high-risk areas.
Money was also available for companies to buy anti-shatter film for urban bus windows, which could help stop objects thrown as missiles from hurting people inside.
“Any progress is good progress,” Mr Biagini said.
“The current government is leaps and bounds ahead of the previous government, who would barely give the union the time of day.”
The Deloitte report found 392 assault-related incidents were reported by bus operators contracted by the Transport Department in the 2015-16 financial year.
The report found that assaults were not always reported.
A Transport Workers Union spokesperson said a union survey had found 96.5 per cent of about 400 drivers quizzed in 2015 from across Queensland responded they had been abused while on the job.
About 62 per cent had said they were abused regularly.
Transdev managing director Tilly Loughborough said she could not comment on last week’s assault.
“The incident is the subject of a police investigation and we are not at liberty to discuss the matter further or provide additional details,” she said.
“It goes without saying that our priority is the care and wellbeing of our people and the customer we transport every day.”
Transdev did not provide further comment about action being taken to prevent further bus driver assaults.