Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 leaders are calling on Metrobus drivers to stop quoting the $2.25 fare to passengers getting on board.
At a press conference Wednesday, union leaders told drivers to defy the Metro policy put in place on Metrobus in May that requires drivers to tell riders how much the ride costs as part of a wider initiative to cut down on fare evasion.
In a release at the time, the union called it a “despicable and callous decision,” and said, “our member’s safety is more important than attempting to collect $2.25 from a fare evader.”
The union pointed to an assault on a Metrobus driver in Silver Spring on Aug. 1 as proof that quoting fares is unsafe for drivers and that existing bus barriers, which do not fully separate the driver from passengers getting on board, are insufficient.
Footage posted on Facebook by the union shows the driver quoting the fare and telling a masked passenger that he could not have an open container of alcohol on board and to step behind the safety line at the front of the bus. The masked passenger then pries back the safety barrier and reaches around it to punch the driver repeatedly.
The Metro Transit Police Department put out a notice last week soliciting the public for information on the masked man.
Last Friday, Metro said in a statement that “preliminary information shows the operator told the adult male suspect he could not bring an open alcoholic beverage on board,” and that the agency is working to install fully enclosed barriers on buses, according to WJLA-TV.
ATU Local 689 President Raymond Jackson said Wednesday that the driver told him the attack was over the fare quotation, not the open container of alcohol. Mr. Jackson also said that quoting the fare was halted in 2016 due to safety issues and attacks on drivers.
Another union official, ATU Local 689 Secretary Barry Wilson, said that “the bus announces the fare amount [and] it’s posted on the fare box, [so] why would you have to involve the operator?,” according to WUSA-TV.
In a post on X Wednesday that did not directly mention the fare debate, Metro said that “safety is our core value,” that fully enclosed bus barriers would be installed by spring 2027, that 1,000 offenders have been banned from the transit system since June 2025 — and that the union lobbied against allowing special police officers on board buses to heighten security.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.