Bus drivers across the province will benefit from new protective shields on all BC Transit buses.
The Director of Safety and Emergency Management John Palmer says "the full driver doors will be the final piece to the puzzle for our driver protection system, which incorporates our CCTV program on board - the cameras on the buses - also the radio systems for our operators to have direct communication to emergency services and our nationally accredited training program."
Palmer says a prototype shield was installed on select buses over a year ago.
"We heard back from over 100 operators in three different locations around the province - Kelowna, Victoria and Abbotsford - and we heard loud and clear some very direct concerns around the design that we are addressing when we go out to the market place to find a vendor to build them for us," says Palmer.
He says the next step is a public bidding process to decide who will get the contract for the shields.
The whole process could take as long as three years.