BTAPS expands safety push to all 50 states with new legislative tech

Every day, transit workers face the threat of attacks while on the job.

According to BTAPS Committee member Cole Czub (Local Chairperson for Local 769A), approximately 30 states have laws in place that deal with assaults against transit workers.

The goal is to expand that to all 50 states.

SMART-TD’s Bus and Transit Assault Prevention and Safety (BTAPS) Committee is now using a state bill tracker to make that happen.

The tracker monitors legislation across the country. Members can see what’s already in existing law in other states, then use templates to draft a custom bill to best address the needs of their specific state.

Instead of a tedious drafting process, the new tool empowers members to “cut and paste” the strongest aspects of successful transit assault legislation from across the country.

This will accelerate the process, where states are divided into territories where members examine bills that are already on the books. They meet with SMART-TD’s State Legislative Directors to introduce legislation to protect transit workers or strengthen existing law.

Strong legislation is the most durable way to protect transit workers nationwide. Thanks to the new bill tracker, the BTAPS Committee can quickly draft new laws that keep our transit brothers and sisters safe from violent attacks and assaults.