The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority and the Dayton Police Department are embarking on a stepped-up patrol program to keep bus riders and drivers safe.
The police department will have officers in three places — at the RTA Hub on North Main Street downtown, on buses and at some bus stops.
In the past few years, RTA has moved buses off the streets at the downtown hub, added surveillance cameras aboard buses and police officers patrol the downtown transit center. Now, police officers are getting on buses and riding anywhere drivers report there are issues.
Incidents of people throwing projectiles at coaches are down 37 percent this year.
Incidents of reported problems at bus stops are also down, in large part because police patrols are there to greet passengers as they get off buses.
“By putting officers in those areas, they’re less likely to take the chance to target one of our buses because they know an officer will be able to respond very quickly,” RTA Marketing Manager Jessica Olson told NewsCenter7’s Natalie Jovonovich on Monday night.
Kerris Smalls, an RTA rider, said, “I like the fact of thinking that they’re [police officers] on the bus, but it might be a lot safer. If it’s safer for us, then yeah I like it.”
RTA officials in August are hosting a safety day event at the Wright Stop Plaza, a part of the company’s continuing effort to promote the commitment to safety.
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