HART’s new “Ride with Respect” program, will consist of a series of short video vignettes focused on the lives, hobbies and devotion of bus drivers and other operators. “HART has a responsibility to provide a safe, respectful, and efficient trip for our customers and we ask that our customers maintain that safe and respectful environment,” says the site. “Please take time to know the rules and proper riding etiquette for a great experience.”
The first video features HARTPlus van operator Latisha Jones, and follows her through her morning routine, while she discusses what this job means to her, and her side gig as a pastor at her local church. “I find picking up the disabled and the elderly a rewarding job. You really help people when you do that,” says Jones in the video. “We are out here doing our job and we just want you to respect us.”
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The other major component of the campaign is just making sure people know the rules, and also lists a few very obvious ways people can be courteous riders, including things like not yelling into your phone like a maniac, offering your seat to the elderly, letting others off the bus before you enter, and maybe not tossing your trash on the floor.
"Every day, more than 300 transit professionals and 34,000 customers share a space on HART buses, vans, and streetcars," said Benjamin Limmer, HART CEO in a statement. "We hope launching the Ride with Respect campaign helps maintain a safe, respectful and courteous environment on board our vehicles."
The new campaign comes just a few months after the killing of HART driver Thomas Dunn, who was stabbed to death on May 25. Since then, both the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority and HART have installed tempered glass covers to protect drivers from attackers.
Needless to say the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1593 is pleased with the new campaign. "The ATU will continue to partner with HART, Hillsborough County and the rest of the communities we serve,” said Curtis Howard, ATU International Vice President in a statement. “As we do our best to move the residents of Hillsborough County in a safely and timely manner, we need them to treat our Operators with respect each and every day.”
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This article appears in Aug 1-8, 2019.