When Unite surveyed 1,800 bus drivers, 82% said they had been abused in the previous year and 79% felt the problem was getting worse. For drivers, that means verbal abuse, threats and, at worst, physical attacks while trying to keep a service on time.
New legal duties and enforcement powers have turned driver abuse into a compliance matter as well as a welfare one. Here is what operators are doing and where the gaps remain.
New Duties for Operators
Section 34 of the Bus Services Act 2025 requires PSV operators to make sure drivers and other passenger-facing staff on local services have completed training within the past five years on identifying and responding to crime and antisocial behaviour. The duty came into force on 5 August 2026, and traffic commissioners can take action against operators who fail to comply without reasonable excuse.
The same date brought powers for local transport authorities in England to enforce bus byelaws, with fixed penalties of up to £100. Police and transport safety officers do the enforcing; the government is clear that drivers will not be responsible for it. As Bus-News reported, the new fines for antisocial behaviour target conduct such as loud music and threats. Meeting the training duty is a minimum; as a recent piece on bus safety moving beyond compliance argued, the regulatory box is rarely the whole job.
Prevention Starts in the Cab
De-escalation training gives drivers practical ways to calm a tense moment, such as a fare dispute, before it escalates. Cashless boarding removes another flashpoint, since there is no change to argue about and no takings to steal.
Physical protection matters too. Assault screens and driver protection doors can be fitted to new vehicles or retrofitted to older ones, as suppliers of cab protection have described. Design details count. In evidence to the London Assembly, a London bus driver with 25 years’ service said his screen “was positioned high to allow for cash handling” and that “a passenger managed to attack me under the screen”.
Safer working environments also depend on well-maintained transport facilities. Providers such as Mitie, which delivers cleaning services for the transport industry, help operators maintain clean, safe and welcoming spaces. In January 2026, Mitie secured a new five-year contract with Transport for London (TfL), covering cleaning across trains, Tube and bus stations, alongside waste management and graffiti removal. This highlights the wider role of facilities management in supporting safer transport environments for staff and passengers.
Making Reporting Easy
More than half of the drivers in Unite’s survey said they had not reported incidents to their employer. If abuse goes unrecorded, operators cannot see which routes, times or stops carry the most risk, and police cannot target patrols.
The fixes are simple: a quick way to log an incident after a shift, a reply to every driver who reports and regular data sharing with police. Taken together, the main measures look like this:
- De-escalation training: tackles fare disputes and verbal abuse before they escalate. The legal minimum is every five years, but refreshers help.
- Assault screens and cab doors: protect drivers from physical attacks. Check for gaps where screens sit high for cash handling.
- Simple incident reporting: tackles underreporting, but drivers give up if reports get no response.
- On-board CCTV: provides evidence for police and insurers, as long as footage is reviewed and kept.
- Body-worn video: gives a clear record of an incident and can help calm encounters, especially with a clear policy on when cameras record.
Using Video Evidence Well
On-board CCTV is already widespread. National Express West Midlands told route one that all 1,600 of its vehicles are fitted with up to 12 CCTV cameras. Several operators now issue body cameras to inspectors and roving staff, which give a clear account of an incident and, with a visible recording signal, can encourage passengers to calm down. Metrolinx in Canada, which runs GO Transit buses and trains, uses a flashing red light and an audible beep so people know when its cameras are recording.
Video is not a fix on its own. In an RMT survey of members who wear body-worn video, cited in its London Assembly evidence, 85% had been trained but just 40% felt the camera gave extra protection, and nearly two-thirds thought it aggravated incidents. Policy matters as much as hardware: who wears cameras, when they record, how passengers are told and whether footage supports prosecutions.
Working with Police and Partners
National Express West Midlands works with West Midlands Police through the Safer Travel Partnership, which has introduced transport safety officers. Paul White, director of CPT Scotland, has called for a response that brings together operators, unions, governments and police.
Results elsewhere suggest a combined approach pays off. RTC Southern Nevada reported that passenger-on-operator assaults fell by nearly 29% in its 2026 financial year, from 28 to 20, while verbal assaults dropped by almost 46%, from 166 to 90. The agency expanded its security presence, gave staff annual de-escalation training and fitted GPS-enabled panic buttons for operators.
Aftercare for Drivers
Support after an incident is the final piece. Counselling, time to recover without losing pay and a follow-up conversation with a manager show drivers their employer takes abuse seriously. As Unite general secretary Sharon Graham put it, “No one should feel unsafe at work.” Drivers who feel backed are more likely to stay and to report the next incident.
