TTC says spitting on bus drivers is a big problem

If you've seen more security on TTC buses and streetcars, you're not imagining it. The TTC is putting more constables on certain surface routes in the hopes that Torontonians will behave while taking public transit.

In 2016, according to Metro News, there were 285 assaults on transit operators - in 34 per cent of these incidents, drivers were spit on. About 31 per cent involved physical altercations.

As Metro writes, the TTC introduced the Bus Stop pilot project in December where special constables boarded 400 buses along seven different routes.

After this four-week pilot, the TTC's chief special constable Mark Cousins tells us that his team will now be making this assault prevention program one of its top priorities.

It won't add additional staff to the system, rather Cousins says his team will now rethink where constables are deployed across the entire transit system.

It doesn't cast Toronto in the best light that such measures are necessary. Let's please allow these people to do their jobs without the fear of harassment.