Palma bus drivers report increasing abuse

PALMA bus drivers have become the brunt of increasing abuse from passengers, according to union representatives.

This comes after municipal transport company EMT reduced the number of services.

Before the service cuts the number of ‘”physical and verbal aggression each week was between 10 and 12, now it reaches 17,” said the work council’s president Andres Rodriguez.

There have not been enough buses to cater to all the passengers with some being left behind so having to wait more than an hour for the next one, bus drivers have reported. In Can Pastilla, Coll den Rabassa and Molinar, buses have been so full that they were not even able to stop for passengers waiting at bus stops.

On Thursdays and Saturdays when cruise ship passengers are in the city, it is common for more than 50 people to be waiting, according to employee reports.

”While we understand that EMT needs to optimize their resources, we never thought service would be cut in areas that needed it,” said the works council.