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Bulletproof shields for bus drivers? Most people hate their jobs because they feel as though they're trapped in a cage. But Montreal's bus drivers actually want to sit in a real cage: their union is demanding that the MUCTC install bulletproof "anti-aggression cages" in each and every bus. The drivers have actually been demanding the cages for years. But their case was given a shot in the arm by a recent UQAM study, which suggested that the cages are the best solution to the problem of driver abuse. Last year, there were 158 reported incidents of either verbal or physical attacks against bus drivers. Despite such evidence, MUCTC management refuses to budge. "Over the past few years, there have only been two or three incidents of abuse per year that actually involved serious physical violence," says MUCTC spokesperson Odile Paradis. "One such incident is one too many, but we're not about to cut our riders off from their driver because of that. What's happening on the bus is only a reflection of what's happening in society." No other city in North America has bulletproof cages on its buses; only Paris uses them, and only for specific routes.--Philip Preville
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