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Summary
King County Executive Shannon Braddock has committed to adding safety partitions to Metro’s entire fleet of roughly 1,400 buses to improve safety conditions for bus operators. Following a recent order of 89 new buses with partitions, Metro is exploring options for retrofitting larger, stronger doors onto existing buses, too. New and existing buses with safety partitions will begin service later this year.
News
King County Metro bus operators are evaluating safety partition designs as part of the planning process for retrofitting up to 1,300 of the agency’s 1,400 buses. Existing buses not being upgraded will be replaced by a recent order for 89 new buses that have a partition already installed.
From now through July 5, four buses, each with a different style of partition currently available on the market, will be touring Metro’s bases. The safety partitions, which riders will begin seeing on both new and existing buses later this year, offer increased size and durability to better protect Metro bus operators.
“King County is moving forward as quickly as possible to select and install operator safety partitions on every Metro bus, fulfilling our commitment to enhance transit safety for operators and riders,” said Executive Braddock. “We listened to our operators’ feedback, which led to improved, larger partition designs and the installation of safety partitions on the 89 new buses arriving next year.”
More people are taking transit throughout the region, and Metro serves well over 300,000 daily passengers every weekday. From 2023 to 2024, Metro’s Care and Presence safety approach led to a 56% reduction in operator assaults. Operator assaults further decreased by 20% from the first quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025.
“While ridership and safety trends are very encouraging, our goal will always be zero incidents,” said Braddock. “King County continues to expand our comprehensive approach to transit safety — including 24/7 cleaning crews, behavioral health specialists, Metro Transit Police, Metro Transit Security Officers, safety partitions and more — to ensure every trip is safe and welcoming.”
“Safety is absolutely paramount, and our bus operators often share with me how important these partitions are to them,” said King County Metro General Manager Michelle Allison. "Operator safety partitions have been a multi-year effort across our agency. I want to thank the many teams involved for getting us to this point, and for accelerating the procurement and installation timelines. We’re now on track to begin installation later this year and to reach 100% of buses by 2026. That completion date is an improvement of roughly two years from an earlier estimate.”
Amalgamated Transit Union, ATU, Local 587 President Greg Woodfill, who leads Metro’s largest labor union, shared his support for the new operator safety partitions.
“Stronger and larger operator safety partitions will provide better protection for our operators from assaults and allow them to focus more on safe driving, which ultimately means safer trips for passengers,” said ATU Local 587 President Woodfill.
Following operators’ feedback on the potential safety partition features, Metro will move forward with a procurement process to obtain the equipment for retrofitting its existing buses.
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