POLICE are helping to train Redlands bus drivers employed on runs in greater Brisbane to keep calm when dealing with difficult customers.
Bayside Patrol crime prevention co-ordinator Sergeant Chris Hebblethwaite said a passenger’s inability to pay a fare could sometimes spark disputes.
The training delivered was to help bus drivers know how to keep in control while helping customers to understand the consequences they face for evading fares.
Bus drivers do not have the authority to enforce fare compliance but passengers caught travelling without a ticket can be fined by Translink's senior network officers.
Fare evasion is illegal and it is the customers responsibility to produce a current bus pass, a valid paper ticket or a valid go card with sufficient funds when travelling on a bus service.
Transdev policy requires drivers to tell customers who breach travel conditions about this.
About 120 Transdev staff were trained earlier this week on how to de-escalate tricky situations and seek help when needed to keep safe.
Sergeant Hebblethwaite said knowing how to identify causes of conflict and assess risks was important for safety.
So too was knowing when to call for help.
Transdev Queensland managing director Tilly Loughborough said verbal and physical assaults against bus drivers across the state was low, but safety training would help to further prevent verbal assaults and attacks.
“While the records of verbal and physical assaults remain very low, 0.00012% year to date, it is important that people on the frontline are appropriately trained to ensure their own and their customers safety at all times,” she said.
“The fantastic training ... is a great example of how a proactive and collaborative partnership provides key skills to our (bus drivers), and which enhance the service we deliver to the community we serve.”
Transdev in Brisbane operates urban and school services under contract to the Queensland Government, employing more than 190 people and ferrying more than 2.5 million customers per year.
Transdev policy says school children are to never be refused travel under any circumstance.
