Is violence on public transit getting worse?

(NewsNation) — In February, a 40-year-old woman was killed after being pushed in front of a train, four others were stabbed in attacks that spanned multiple subway trains just weeks later and on Tuesday a shooting left 17 injured.

For many passengers and transit employees across the country, feeling unsafe has become the new norm.

In New York City, there have been 617 transit crimes reported this year as of April 10, compared to 367 over the same period last year. That marks a 68% increase in reported subway crimes from 2021 to 2022.

In part, the rise in subway crime is due to an uptick in ridership as people return to the office after the pandemic. But even when adjusted for ridership numbers, the rate of violent crime on New York City transit was significantly higher in 2021 than 2019, with felony assaults up nearly 25%, according to the New York Times.

Transit employees remain especially vulnerable. Through the first quarter of 2022, there have been 26 assaults against transit workers on New York subways, compared to just six attacks at this time last year.

In December, bus drivers in Chicago hit the streets in protest, calling for additional safety protections after a driver was beaten and hospitalized.

And the violence on buses and trains isn’t limited to America’s most populated cities.

Just last month, two people were killed and two others were injured in a shooting on a Broward County Transit bus in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

In that case, the gunman fired 12 shots at passengers, stopped to reload and then continued shooting.

Gwendolyn Whitfield was the driver behind the wheel at the time, and it’s a moment she will never forget.

“I just remember boom, boom, boom, and I just drove,” said Whitfield.

With a tragedy unfolding behind her, Whitfield carefully maneuvered into oncoming traffic and drove the bus to a nearby police station.

Thanks to Whitfield’s quick thinking, the suspected shooter, later identified as 34-year-old Jamal Meyers, stepped off the bus and surrendered to police.

With more than 20 years of experience as a driver, Whitfield said she’s noticed an increase in bad behavior recently.

“I believe people are more angry now. I don’t know if it is because of the economy or why, but I have seen a lot of angry people,” she said.

The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), which is the largest labor union representing transit workers in the U.S., says violent crime on public transit is at an all-time high. But that data can be hard to track because unlike air travel, the union says the federal government does not track crime on public transit.

“For years they have just been sweeping it under the rug and hiding it,” said ATU president John Costa. “I saw one of my operators get stabbed seven times and they called it a simple assault. You stabbed me seven times and that is not attempted murder? We had to go fight that.”

For many, the dangers that come with being a public transit employee have become insurmountable. Whitfield says she may never get back behind the wheel.

“I don’t know. I pray I will but I’m not sure,” she said.