(Source: MIRS.news, Published 03/27/23) An association of rail and transportation workers is putting together proposals for Michigan lawmakers to improve Amtrak security with stricter penalties against individuals who verbally or physically assault rail employees.
Donald Roach, the state legislative director for the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), described the bill ideas to MIRS that would charge someone with a five-year, $5,000 felony for assaulting the operator of a bus, street running train or a train.
He also discussed a proposal to suspend someone from their riding privileges following an incident that involved verbal or physical assault.
"So the big concern is obviously the assaults, whether they be physical or verbal, but one of the major things that we're seeing is when these things happen, some of these individuals get removed from the train, but then they're allowed to buy another ticket and ride the next day," Roach said. "We're trying to work on the correct language because it's a public service. Taxpayers pay for it. We kind of don't mirror the airline industry to where they can just ban you."
Roach indicated the process of creating the proposals was ongoing, due to there being different levels of severity among cases and recognizing Amtrak is both subsidized by the federal government and has its Michigan operations funded by the state.
Moreover, he believes Amtrak operations in the state are already moving in the right direction in relation to safety as the recent police presence on passenger rail becomes "more visible." However, he said he still wants to take things a step further as post-pandemic ridership grows and more residents are encouraged to travel by train.
According to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), passenger rail ridership in Michigan increased from 405,234 in the 2021 calendar year – when COVID-19 regulations and travel concerns continued to have a significant presence – to 623,989 in the 2022 calendar year.
In January and February, there were 84,252 Michigan riders.
Roach told MIRS one of his representatives informed him there haven't been any physical assaults recently, "although there's still the occasional inebriated rider mouthing off to crew members."
One of the last major incidents of an Amtrak employee being attacked in Michigan occurred on Feb. 15, 2022.
A conductor on Amtrak Wolverine Train 354 was essentially reporting herself as "off work" at the Battle Creek station when she noticed an elderly woman – who was responsible for opening and closing doors when trains arrived – was verbally attacked by a late passenger who missed his ride. Roach said the conductor kindly asked the gentleman to leave, informing him his train wasn't coming back.
In response, the late passenger "punched her in the face and then immediately left the scene."
Around 11 days before the Battle Creek assault, the Amtrak Wolverine Train 354 experienced mechanical issues near the Ann Arbor station when a conductor was called to address a passenger threatening to blow up the train and kill the crew. He stated he had a knife and a stun gun on him, and was removed from the train by Ann Arbor police.
Additionally, on Nov. 11, 2021, the Amtrak Wolverine Train 355 was stopped in the city of Jackson as a passenger declared there was a bomb on board and reportedly made verbal threats against crew members and passengers.
No bomb was discovered when the state police searched the train following an evacuation, and although the conductor requested the passenger be placed on a do-not-ride list by Amtrak police, the same individual was able to board an Amtrak train on its way to Chicago the next morning.
"The safety of the public is the number one goal, right? And that of the membership that actually operates the train," Roach said. "I think if they know that they are going to have a police presence and that there's accountability out there for individuals, that it might help increase ridership. … People might want to take the train more."
In January 2022, Democratic Gov. Philip Dunton MURPHY of New Jersey signed off on the Motorbus and Passenger Rail Service Employee Prevention Act, allowing NJ TRANSIT, the state's mass transportation system, to suspend or prohibit an individual's access to ridership following an assault against an employee.
It would also require NJ TRANSIT and motorbus companies to collaborate with law enforcement and transit police officers to keep bus operators and rail employees secure while traveling through "potentially problematic routes." The New Jersey act additionally ramped up their penalties for all assaults against the aforementioned transportation workers.
In Illinois, the state's general assembly is looking at legislation providing the Chicago Transit Board and other transportation governing groups the ability to suspend an individual's riding privileges and access to fare media.
