New Jersey Transit has launched an initiative to increase safety for its transit workers. The organization launched the “Ride Kind” initiative on Wednesday.

“Operators expressed to me – and their business agents – how concerned they are for their safety,” says Orlando Riley, chairman of Amalgamated Transit Union.

NJ Transit says that assaults against transportation workers are on the rise.

“Post-COVID, we’re seeing an alarming breakdown of basic common courtesy, common civility – and it extends beyond public transit,” says NJ Transit president and CEO Kevin Corbett.

NJ Transit says a recently approved plan will allow them to suspend ridership privileges for those who assault transit employees.

The agency says that over the last few years, it has taken steps to protect workers by upgrading the penalty for assaults on a motorbus operator or member of the rail crew. An assault on an NJ Transit bus operator or conductor could result in a prison term of up to five years and fines of up to $15,000.

“Just like the passengers we carry every day, all of our transit workers – we just merely want to make it home safely to our families,” Riley says.

The new rules to suspend ridership privileges for those who assault employees are still being finalized.