At WMATA, we focus on the safety of all our riders and employees, especially bus operators and the more than 400,000 passengers they carry every day. We need to embrace every opportunity to protect them, and close the door to fare violators.

Metro's focus on fare evasion is driven by the need to protect bus operators and station managers - considering that most assaults on Metro employees result from fare disputes. In fact, more than two-thirds of all bus operator assaults result from a fare dispute.

Our operators, who are part of the communities served by Metro, have been stabbed, tased, pepper sprayed, hit by thrown objects, and sprayed with fluids. When a bus operator is assaulted, it's not just hurting the operator, all of the passengers aboard that bus are put at risk, not to mention people on the street and travelling around the bus.

To better protect bus operators we have:

• Equipped more than a third of the Metrobus fleet with protective shields,
• Installed security cameras on every bus
• Trained operators on conflict avoidance
• Deployed additional police patrols
• And programmed automated fare announcements so operators no longer have to personally quote the fare to passengers as they board the bus.

We expect our riders to respect Metro employees as they respect you.