RATP bus network drivers are increasingly being targeted. The number of attacks against them exploded in 2022, up 29% compared to 2021, according to an expert report carried out for the social and economic committee (CSE) of the surface network (RDS) of the authority, which currently has 15,000 bus drivers.
According to this report from the DH23 firm, data from which was published Tuesday by the newspaper The Parisianthere were 891 “reported attacks” on bus drivers in 2022, after 690 in 2021.
“Spitting, insults or death threats”
In 2020, a year marked by Covid-19 and a drop in traffic, 606 attacks were reported. There were 802 in 2019. The number of attacks increased by 11% last year compared to 2019. The Paris-Est bus depot is the one which recorded the most attacks in 2022, with 122 cases (+58% compared to 2021). That of Vitry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne) was the most spared with 15 cases (stable figure).
“The drivers go to work with a lump in their stomach. Attacks have increased. I’ve been at RATP for 20 years and it’s getting worse and worse,” alarms Ahmed Berrahal, CGT elected official, member of the health, safety and working conditions commission (CSSCT) of the CSE RDS. “The attacks are becoming more and more serious. The driver is beaten up and punched. There are about three attacks a day. And many do not report attacks, such as spitting, insults or death threats,” he adds. “The RATP doesn’t do much, we’ve been denouncing these attacks for years. We are asking for staff on the bus with the driver.”
Better in 2023
RATP management, for its part, emphasizes that “the safety of (its) agents, and in particular that of bus drivers, is an absolute priority”. In addition to a “discreet” alarm, an “anti-aggression window” must “protect against physical attacks” and there are “on-board cameras” in the buses, lists the management, whose “internal security service (GPSR) intervenes quickly in close coordination with law enforcement.” “We are always looking to reduce the response times of the GPSR teams,” indicates management.
Concerning the current year, the number of attacks declared from January to the end of August is “down 33%” compared to the same period of 2022, the authority further specifies.