Transport

Rome bus drivers strike over violence

25 Sep, 2019

Three bus drivers attacked in Rome in recent days.

Trade unions representing Rome's public transport sector have called a two-hour bus strike on Thursday 26 September in protest over increasing cases of violence against the city's bus drivers.

The strike, programmed from 10.00 until 12.00, follows three separate, recent cases of bus drivers being attacked in Rome.

The most recent attack occurred on Via Appia Nuova on the night of 23 September: a bus driver had stopped and got out to check if he could pass due to a double-parked car when he was insulted and then attacked by the driver of a car stuck waiting behind the bus.

The day before, in the southern Acilia suburb, another driver was assulted by two youths who complained that they had to wait too long for the bus.

The most serious assault happened over the last weekend in the western Boccea suburb when a bus driver was hospitalised after being beaten up by a gang of eight teenagers.

Rome's public transport company ATAC, and the city's mayor Virginia Raggi, condemned the violence however trade unions say that "the time for words is over."

Unions are calling for "concrete and rapid" measures to ensure the safety of Rome's bus drivers, including the installation of security cabins and cameras on all buses.

Photo Il Tempo