BC Transit adding protective driver doors to Vernon bus fleets

Those riding the bus in Vernon will soon notice full driver doors designed to safeguard drivers amid COVID-19.

The protective doors will be retrofitted on all conventional bus fleets in the city in the coming days, followed promptly by installations on North Okanagan Route 90 Connector buses, BC Transit announced Friday, Aug. 28.

The full driver door is a movable barrier to the right of the driver’s seat near the fare box, and includes a clear sheet of laminated tempered glass with anti-glare coating. The door’s windows can be adjusted to allow drivers to clear their sightlines with different seat positions.

“BC Transit has accelerated our installation schedule, and 633 buses will be retrofitted with full driver doors across 34 transit systems in the province before the end of September,” a spokesperson for BC Transit said.

BC Transit says Kodiak Mobile Video Installations will complete the retrofitting over a 10-day period, and all new buses in the fleet will arrive with the door pre-installed.

Produced by AROW Global Corporation, the new doors will replace the current vinyl panels that have been used in response to the pandemic to date. Those vinyl panels will continue to be used on community and HandyDART buses.

BC Transit says passengers’ service experience won’t be impacted by the installation process.