MCTS drivers, union discuss safety concerns at county meeting

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – Milwaukee County Transit System bus drivers and union leaders are demanding better safety on buses.

At a meeting on Wednesday, drivers and union leaders said they want county leaders to step in and take action.

One option is to have the sheriff’s office take over security on the buses, costing $4 million. On Wednesday, there wasn’t a vote on the proposal, just discussion.

Drivers who spoke at the meeting say after they experienced violence on the bus, no one from the security company checked to see how they were doing or wrote a report.

One woman shook as she talked about an incident.

“He was going up and down the aisle, calling me out on my name, coming around my shield” MCTS bus driver Sherri Jones said. “Threatening to shoot me in my face, basically, I felt more from the passengers on my bus that they were helping me more out than from my company.”

The union president says he would like to see drivers armed or at least carrying mace or a Taser.