An apparent sick-out by dozens of LA Metro bus drivers over driver safety issues caused delays on Friday, May 3 on at least 41 bus lines, mostly in downtown Los Angeles, South L.A., southern and western Los Angeles County, Hollywood, Long Beach and the South Bay, according to LA Metro and other sources.
The information regarding the apparent wildcat action comes from LA Metro rider alerts posted on social media and their own website, as well as statements from the transit agency, including one that asked drivers to stay on the job and not call in sick for the sake of transit-dependent riders.
Metro called the action “an unsanctioned Sick Out” that initially affected 19 out of 120 bus lines, said Dave Sotero, Metro spokesman, in an emailed response early Friday afternoon. That number by late afternoon grew to 41 lines or one-third of all lines. None of the lines were missing their stops, but Metro bus customers were experiencing 10-15 minute delays of service on the affected lines, Sotero said.
A Metro bus on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles on Friday, May 3, 2024. Many lines were affected by a bus driver sick-out, including this one, Line 2. The action was aimed at raising awareness to bus driver safety issues. (photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The reason for the sick-out stems from recent attacks on operators, often by transients. Bus drivers have been spit on, kicked, punched and have been the victims of more violent assaults, which led to rumors of the sick-out spreading late Thursday night in an effort to draw attention to demands for safer working conditions.
Update 4:20pm
We may have delays thru 7pm on following bus lines due to staff shortages: 2, 10, 18, 20, 28, 40, 45, 48, 53, 66, 70, 76, 78, 81, 90, 92, 94, 105, 108, 110, 111, 115, 117, 127, 180, 182, 204, 206, 207, 210, 211, 212, 215, 217, 251, 260, 344, 487, 550, 910, 950 pic.twitter.com/A3lWSUfO3U
— LA Metro Rider Alerts (@metrolaalerts) May 3, 2024
According to LA Metro social media posts, the number of affected lines grew throughout Friday, from about 14 to 41. The lines include those going from Pasadena to Hollywood, the line in Eagle Rock, the line from Hollywood to the Westside, the line through Inglewood, the El Monte Busway, the lines in South Los Angeles and southern county communities on Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard, lines in the eastern San Fernando Valley, and lines in the harbor region.
It is not clear how many bus drivers called in sick, but with 41 lines affected that could amount to at least 200 operators not at work, experts said. Representatives of both the Amalgamated Transit Union and the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, Transportation (SMART-TD) union did not return phone calls or emails.
Metro alerted passengers to delays and staffing shortages at regular intervals on Friday. In a post at 4 p.m. on X, formerly Twitter, LA Metro wrote: “We may experience significant delays thru 7 p.m. on the following bus lines due to staff shortages: 2, 10, 18, 28, 40, 45, 48, 53, 66, 70, 76, 78, 81, 105, 108, 110, 111, 115, 117, 127, 180, 182, 204, 206, 207, 210, 211, 212, 215, 217, 251, 260, 344, 487, 550, 910, 950.”
The number of lines affected grew to 29 by 2:25 p.m. and 41 by 4:30 p.m. Metro posted that the delays on those lines would last until 7 p.m. Friday.
A 11:23 a.m. LA Metro posted: “Also, please note that we’re deploying staff as much as possible to mitigate for missed service on the bus lines most impacted.”
“As contingency, we will continue our efforts to bring in volunteer extraboard operators, use instructors and trainees, manage the lines to even out headways and focus on maintaining service on lines in Equity Focus Communities,” Sotero wrote on Friday afternoon.
A Metro bus stops along Lake Avenue in north Pasadena to pick up two passengers. The driver said he was not participating in a sick-out. Only certain lines were affected and apparently, not this one. (Photo by Steve Scauzillo, SCNG)
A bus driver on the 662 line in north Pasadena said he heard the rumors about the sick-out from operators in other divisions but was not contacted directly. “It is regarding safety and the unions pressing Metro for our safety. There’s no security on board, that is the main concern. That is what I hear,” said John, who declined to give his last name but said he was a member of the SMART-TD union.
On March 21, a No. 2 line bus was hijacked by a man with what looked like a gun and who then crashed the bus into the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at West Olympic Boulevard. As it turned out, the suspect, Anai Lindsey, 24, was holding a BB gun that resembled a handgun. He ran from the crash and later was arrested by LAPD.
After the incident, the SMART Transit Division asked Metro for safety measures on all 2,000 buses to protect its union members and the public. They include: place more security guards on the buses; provide a button an operator can use to sound a silent alarm; place bulletproof barriers for drivers, and get longer jail sentences for anyone who assaults a transit operator.
On April 13, an LA Metro bus driver was stabbed in the chest by a man who entered the bus in Willowbrook and started yelling at the driver, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The case against Darnell Marshon Bray, 30, of Hawthorne, includes allegations that he used a knife during the crime and personally inflicted great bodily injury, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Bray pleaded not guilty on April 29 to attempted murder.
Following the death of a woman on the Metro B (Red) Line and a rising number of violent attacks on public transit operators, Metro officials expedited efforts to acquire and install protective barriers for drivers on thousands of buses.
Metro’s Board of Directors on April 29 approved an emergency procurement declaration to speed up acquisition and installation of barriers for about 2,000 buses due to the “sudden, unexpected increased severity of assaults on operators.”
John, the operator of the Metro bus in Pasadena on Friday, said he heard about the board’s decision to begin installing better barriers. “It is a slow rollout,” he said. He also mentioned problems expressed by drivers who’ve received the new barriers on their coaches made of tempered glass that creates a glare that can affect a driver’s vision of the roadway.
Metro responded to the sick-out with a statement, saying that bus drivers are the face of Metro and are seen by 80% of Metro riders. “We appeal to our operators to reconsider the impact their plan to call in sick will have on some of the most vulnerable people in the county,” the statement said. “We understand their and their families’ fear in the face of the senseless assaults some have experienced primarily resulting from the twin crises of untreated mental illness and drug addiction,” the statement continued.
The agency said it was expediting new barriers to keep drivers safe and has put more security officers on board buses and is working to add even more of its own transit security officers to buses.
Eric Mann, of the nonprofit group the Bus Riders Union, said his group agrees with the bus drivers’ concerns about their safety. But he said more armed police are not the answer. Instead, he would rather see Transit Ambassadors helping the drivers. “We need people trained in conflict resolution on the buses,” he said.
City News Services contributed to this article.
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