An analysis of bus drivers’ interactions with motorists

Driving a bus in the city is a task that demands attention to changing road conditions while dealing with passengers’ needs. Bus drivers often experience aggression from passengers and other road users, which sometimes escalate, eventually leading to violence. However, many road conflicts are rarely reported and, hence, difficult to study. This article analyses bus drivers’ reactions to conflicts with other motorists in Santiago (Chile), where public transport accounts for 35% of the total trips. Four percent of the population of bus drivers (639) responded to a survey with questions about job satisfaction, the bus route, and experiences of conflicts and accidents with other vehicles. A Mixed Logit model was estimated to explore bus drivers’ reactions to a conflict with motorised vehicles. The results show that bus driver’s most frequent reaction is ignoring and carrying on. If a conflict escalates, bus drivers display aggressive reactions such as violently blowing the horn, insult louder, chucking the bus onto the other vehicle, overtake the vehicle off, or start a fist fight. Being a bus driver with no previous experience of violence with other public transport buses decreases the likelihood of violent reactions, while the opposite occurs with young drivers. Interestingly, the chances of having violent response increase when the driver was female. Public policies should start paying attention to the series of minor conflicts endured by bus drivers in their routines. These conflicts often are not reported to the authorities but nonetheless, exacerbate the chronic stress that bus drivers experience.