APPENDIX F

Non-Airport Practices

Many of the strategies, methods, and solutions proposed for other transportation industry stakeholders can be translated to the airport.

Air Carrier

Air carriers and their flight crews face some of the worst examples of unruly behavior from their passengers. This industry has been outspoken about the topic and is lobbying for several new laws to protect flight crews. It has pushed for the TSA and FAA to create a federally controlled list of banned passengers to prevent them from booking travel with any regulated air carrier. It has also pushed for increased penalties for unruly passengers.

It should be noted that every major commercial air carrier maintains a list of banned passengers to prevent them from booking flights. This does not prevent the individual from booking on a competitor’s flights, but if the airport serves as a major hub for that air carrier it could make traveling inconvenient for the individual.

British Airways issues notices to individuals acting unruly on board their aircraft. Previously, the air carrier issued yellow and red cards; this was modeled after association football misconduct rules:

• First yellow card is a warning
• Second yellow card is removal from the aircraft
• A red card is instant deboarding

The colored cards were eventually replaced with a notice from the flight commander (Figure F-1) because the cards were causing escalations in behavior instead of de-escalations.

Icelandair’s ground staff are trained to consider the following question when interacting with an unruly passenger: “Would you be happy for this passenger to sit next to a child you care about?” If the response is no, the staff member is instructed to deny the passenger boarding. This policy helps prevent incidents in flight and the associated impacts (e.g., diversions, safety risks).

Carnival Cruise Line

The cruise industry was also hit with a significant rise in unruly behavior on board ships after resuming operations in June 2021. Carnival Cruise Line modified their ticket contract to address the issue (https://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/legal-notice/ticket-contract):

The ticket contract allows the cruise line to levy “reputational and goodwill damages” against passengers who engage in disruptive behavior.

The cruise line also includes language in their ticket contract regarding alcohol service on board. This includes limiting the number of alcoholic beverages that can be served to an individual each day of the cruise. This information is tied to their Sail and Sign account.

Bus Agencies

Nakanishi and Fleming (2011) present several methods and strategies to protect bus operators from the rise in assaults from the traveling public.

Bus operators share similar responsibilities and required skills and training to Transportation Security Officers, air carrier ticket and gate agents, and flight attendants. These individuals interact with the traveling public every day and must use their communication, customer service, de-escalation, and problem-solving skills as part of their daily responsibilities. Bus operators are often threatened with violence from passengers, so the industry has developed technologies, policing, training, information management, policies, and outreach methods to reduce the number of incidents.

The FTA provides training modules for bus operators through the Transportation Safety Institute, the National Transit Institute, Johns Hopkins University, and the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center. These are often available at low or no cost to bus agencies.

Training programs for bus operators include topics on:

• federal/state/local regulations
• agency-specific requirements
• customer service (professionalism, courtesy, and confidence)
  • – understanding the role of the professional transit operator
  • – training to ensure bus operators can respond to riders with different abilities, socioeconomic status, age, and cultural issues
  • – communications (e.g., verbal judo)
  • – difficult situations and emotional or personal hot buttons and triggers
  • – customers with disabilities
• safety and security
  • – conflict mitigation training
  • – assault prevention
  • – stress management
  • – security awareness and emergency procedures
  • – security emergencies (e.g., assaults and threats)
  • – weapons
  • – incident investigation and documentation procedures

Bus operators take onboarding training, refresher training, and additional training as needed to address issues as they come up. Operators with a large number of rider complaints may undergo additional customer service training.

Training is important for bus operators because it helps create awareness, respect, and understanding of the riders they encounter daily. Additionally, awareness helps cater to the needs and preferences of their diverse riders, which promotes a more cohesive interaction between the bus operator and rider. Bus operators often see the same individuals every day on their routes who represent a mix of economic and social backgrounds, ethnicities, and cultures. This training teaches understanding and communication skills, such as communicating through language barriers and common gestures and phrases that can be construed as offensive to some.

Some bus agencies equip their operators with nonlethal self-defense tools, such as pepper spray or gel, Taser, Kubotan (self-defense keychain stick), and training in physical self-defense without tools. Some agencies have also adapted verbal judo techniques for their bus operator training which assists in de-escalation methods. These tools and skills are provided to the bus operator so they can disable an attacker long enough for law enforcement to respond.

Many buses are equipped with covert and overt panic buttons to immediately alert dispatch or the control center of an issue. Covert panic buttons open a one-way line of communication so the dispatcher can hear audio from the bus but cannot communicate with the operator. This ensures the assailant remains unaware of the call for assistance. Some also activate a headsign with directions for the other riders to call police or 9-1-1.

Approaches to enforcing rules vary among bus agencies. Some insist on avoiding exceptions to rules as this may confuse riders, which could result in an assault. Some believe bus operators should only challenge riders once to comply with agency policies (e.g., fares) to stop the situation from escalating.

Some bus agencies emphasize the importance of public awareness and engagement by developing initiatives to inform the public about operator assaults and mitigation opportunities. Some examples of bus agency-initiated campaigns include:

• having uniformed officers board buses and distribute safety and security information to riders
• developing media campaigns to announce new security initiatives or policies

• forwarding information on incidents and trends to local elected officials and the media to increase the public’s awareness of the problem
• participating in school and community events and presentations on bus safety and security

Initiatives aimed at the community and local schools are considered long-term campaigns to change the culture around riding the public bus. The initiatives are designed to increase understanding and awareness of the problem with bus operator assaults. Participation in local events and presentations also promotes the agency’s image with the community.

Train and Rail

The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District partnered with a local counseling service to launch a community ambassador program to introduce alternatives to traditional armed law enforcement strategies on board the trains. The BART Police Department was an early adopter of the progressive policing movement, focused on assistance over enforcement. The Progressive Policing Bureau was created to pair transit ambassadors and crisis intervention specialists with sworn officers in special engagement teams throughout the BART system.

Unarmed transit ambassadors provide presence and visibility on trains, platforms, and stations. They have a background in community service and are trained in de-escalation and antibias to avoid conflicts but are instructed to call and report incidents that require law enforcement. They carry masks, Narcan (used for drug overdose), and a police radio.

Crisis intervention specialists have a background in social work and respond to calls regarding mental health, housing insecurity, and substance use. They can also connect individuals in crisis with local support services.

The BART Police Department also plans to include ICAT (integrating communications, assessment, and tactics) training for its officers to prepare them for situations involving individuals who are unarmed or armed with weapons other than firearms and who may be experiencing a mental health crisis or other issue.

In 2021, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) contracted private security guards to monitor their train cars and address bad behaviors by promoting the CTA’s rules. The program was not as successful as hoped because the guards had no enforcement authority. Some suggested the CTA adopt a transit ambassador system similar to BART’s.

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