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Speaker 1: The Northern Territory police are calling for information after an

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Speaker 1: attempted robbery and assault on a bus driver in Malden

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Speaker 1: on the weekend. This incident happened at around six pm

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Speaker 1: on Sunday. Police received reports that a large group had

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Speaker 1: attempted to rob a driver of a bus traveling along

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Speaker 1: Tilston Avenue in Molden.

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Speaker 2: Now, it's not the first time that.

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Speaker 1: We've spoken about assaults on bus drivers or on the

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Speaker 1: bus network. On the line to talk more about this

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Speaker 1: is Barry Norton from the Transport Workers Union. Good morning, Barry,

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Speaker 1: Morning Katy. Thanks so much for your time this morning. Barry,

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Speaker 1: this sounds like a nasty incident. According to the police,

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Speaker 1: this group have allegedly engaged in violent, anti social behavior,

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Speaker 1: resulting in the driver being assaulted and the bus being damaged.

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Speaker 2: Barry, what do you know of the incident?

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Speaker 3: Basically, that's what I know as well. I don't know

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Speaker 3: to what extent the driver was aboot or what damage

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Speaker 3: was on the bus. So basically, you've got to remember

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Speaker 3: that the bus company always keeps the sort of information

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Speaker 3: very close to its heart. They don't let out. I've

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Speaker 3: been talking to bus drivers this morning and only one

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Speaker 3: of them had heard anything about it. And basically what

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Speaker 3: you've just said is the information that's been put out

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Speaker 3: and that is by the police, not by the bus company.

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Speaker 1: Goodness may so, So you have been out this morning

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Speaker 1: talking to different bus drivers, Barry, what have they said

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Speaker 1: to you? Then when you've told them of what's going on.

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Speaker 3: We've had this conversation before cases where we've been discussing

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Speaker 3: the antisocial behavior on the bus network. And one of

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Speaker 3: the things that is apparent is when you realize that

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Speaker 3: there are thousands and I'm not just saying you know,

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Speaker 3: tens or hundreds or there are literally thousands of antis

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Speaker 3: for incidents on the bus network every year. So a

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Speaker 3: lot a lot is not reported, a lot is reported,

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Speaker 3: and nothing seems to be done about it. Consequently, a

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Speaker 3: lot of the drivers are very fatalistic about this and

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Speaker 3: simply so, well, nothing changes, nothing's going to change. The

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Speaker 3: government's not doing anything, company's not doing anything. The only

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Speaker 3: people that seem to be doing and something are the

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Speaker 3: transit officers. They are doing sterling work. There's only a

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Speaker 3: handful of them, and they are running from pillar to

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Speaker 3: posts putting out spot fires and sometimes full on conflications.

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Speaker 3: But they're very limited resource. The police, I imagine they're

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Speaker 3: doing what they can, but they're also understaffed.

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Speaker 1: Well, the fact is, you know, the police and all

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Speaker 1: the transit officers can be on every bus all of

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Speaker 1: the time. But it sounds like this is a real

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Speaker 1: worry and it has been for a while. Barry, how

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Speaker 1: often would you say that there are assaults on drivers?

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Speaker 3: It's difficult to say. The actual facts and figures are

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Speaker 3: not put out for public consumption. Every now and again

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Speaker 3: in the Bus Consultative Committee, the teos and the police

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Speaker 3: will discuss it, but this is just a sort of

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Speaker 3: general general discussion. You can also include spitting as an assault.

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Speaker 3: This is common. Is this happens multiple times a day?

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Speaker 3: It is?

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Speaker 1: It is, Well, it's disgusting, it's disgusting behavior that shouldn't happen.

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Speaker 3: Well, absolutely, But how are we going to change that behavior?

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Speaker 3: Is anybody's guests. But this is also brings us back

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Speaker 3: to what we've been calling for, the union has been

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Speaker 3: calling for for the longest time, is complete driver safety strengths,

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Speaker 3: so that they cannot be spat on, they can't be reached,

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Speaker 3: they can't be got to, they can't be assaulted attempted

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Speaker 3: robberies can't happen. And we've been in discussion with the

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Speaker 3: company and the government for at least two years and

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Speaker 3: nothing has happened.

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Speaker 2: So where is this at Barry? Why are they not

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Speaker 2: being installed?

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Speaker 1: You know, when we've got situations like what is unfolded

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Speaker 1: over the course of the weekend, what's the hold up?

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Speaker 3: I think it's I think certainly with the company as

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Speaker 3: they've adopted the ostriche approach, and that is just sticking

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Speaker 3: their head in the sand and hoping it'll go away.

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Speaker 3: Of course it's not. It's not getting better Taty, it's

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Speaker 3: getting worse. And all of the drivers will be saying this, Barry, can.

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Speaker 1: You tell me or can you explain to me any

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Speaker 1: recent incidents that have occurred that you're aware of.

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Speaker 3: Oh, there was an incident yesterday where a young girl

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Speaker 3: was assaulted on the bus at six thirty in the morning.

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Speaker 3: There was yes last week there was an incident of someone,

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Speaker 3: an elderly man, who flashed a young schoolgirl on the bus.

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Speaker 3: The driver was able to get him off the bus,

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Speaker 3: but only after he'd been alerted by other girls that

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Speaker 3: this was going on. Oh my goodness, Oh absolutely, I mean,

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Speaker 3: there are two aspects to this. Obviously, for us, if

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Speaker 3: we can get the driver absolutely safe and unconditionally safe,

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Speaker 3: there's just nothing that can happen to them. That's step one,

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Speaker 3: and it's actually an easy six. It costs a bit

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Speaker 3: of money, a bit of thought has to go into it.

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Speaker 3: And then obviously the second one just traveling public. Just

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Speaker 3: as interested in keeping the traveling public safe. Yes, it

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Speaker 3: is a war zone out there. I get reports on

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Speaker 3: a daily basis of I thinks that can it's just unbelievable, Katie.

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Speaker 3: I'm sorry it.

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Speaker 2: Look it sounds that way.

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Speaker 1: And you know, as a parent of a young girl,

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Speaker 1: thinking about a young girl being assaulted on the bus yesterday,

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Speaker 1: that example that you've just given from your understanding, was

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Speaker 1: she okay?

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Speaker 3: I believe so yeah, I'm led to believe it was

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Speaker 3: a fight between school girls that I'm not sure.

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Speaker 1: I mean, then though, in addition to that, an elderly

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Speaker 1: man flashing a young school girl again utterly disgraceful and

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Speaker 1: disgusting stuff that our children should not have to be

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Speaker 1: experiencing and our bus drivers shouldn't have to be dealing

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Speaker 1: with on a daily basis. Barry, we know that towards

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Speaker 1: the end of last year, but also earlier this year

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Speaker 1: there had been some further announcements from the Minister for Transport,

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Speaker 1: Eva Lawler around those transit safety officers. Also, you know,

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Speaker 1: discussions about improving the safety for those that travel on buses.

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Speaker 1: You know the discussion as well about the OC spray.

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Speaker 1: Is any of that making a difference.

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Speaker 3: To date, No, the transit officers. I think we're discussing

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Speaker 3: about an improvement of numbers of two and they are,

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Speaker 3: like I said before, they're running from pillar to posts.

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Speaker 3: There's that much going on. As soon as they've finished

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Speaker 3: one thing, that's another five spot files to put out.

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Speaker 3: I imagine the police are trying to do as much

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Speaker 3: as they can. But I would think that the police

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Speaker 3: would be prioritizing things and something like an attempted robbery

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Speaker 3: and assault on the bus would obviously be high on

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Speaker 3: the list. Spitting I think that would be probably pretty

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Speaker 3: low on their list, although of course it is an assault.

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Speaker 3: How well that would be prosecuted I don't think to

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Speaker 3: date that it ever has been so. I think in

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Speaker 3: many ways there's a lot of blitz service being paid

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Speaker 3: to safety on the bus network.

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Speaker 2: Barrier.

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Speaker 3: That's Unfortunately, I am.

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Speaker 1: Going to have to get ready to wrap up, but

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Speaker 1: I do want to ask you, you know, today, after

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Speaker 1: what happened over the course of the weekend, after those

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Speaker 1: two incidents that you've just told me about over the

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Speaker 1: last couple of days, what is your message right now

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Speaker 1: for the Northern Territory government when it comes to the

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Speaker 1: safety of bus drivers but also when it comes to

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Speaker 1: the safety of passengers on our bus network.

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Speaker 3: First of all, the governments and the company and they

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Speaker 3: have to work in unison on this, have to recognize

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Speaker 3: the level of the safety threat on their bus network

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Speaker 3: and they have to actually do something about it. The

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Speaker 3: first thing would be to implement driver protection screens and

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Speaker 3: the second would be to do something about the antisocial

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Speaker 3: behavior on the buses.

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Speaker 1: Do you think the fact that people can ride for

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Speaker 1: free is having an impact in a negative Why no one.

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Speaker 3: Can ride for three three and a lot of people

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Speaker 3: are riding for three But from the beginning of this

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Speaker 3: year bus fairs were being taken again. That's ride for

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Speaker 3: Free finished on the first of January. But there's X

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Speaker 3: number of occasions where drivers say to me, you know,

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Speaker 3: five or six guys will get on, or five or

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Speaker 3: six people whatever, and they'll just walk straight through. They

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Speaker 3: won't pay, and that they're afraid to say, excuse me, lads,

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Speaker 3: or excuse me people. You have to pay, because usually

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Speaker 3: it's the that leads to an location.

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Speaker 1: Oh, Barry, it sounds like a really tough situation for

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Speaker 1: our bus drivers, mate.

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Speaker 2: Thank you very much for your time this morning.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for giving us a better understanding of exactly

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Speaker 1: what is going on. And I know we've got plenty

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Speaker 1: of bus drivers that listen to this show, so a

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Speaker 1: big thank you to each and every one of them

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Speaker 1: that still front up and go to work every day

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Speaker 1: despite the fact that they are in the words that

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Speaker 1: you've just said, they're feeling scared at different times based

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Speaker 1: on some of those different situations that they're in.

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Speaker 3: No, this is no exaggeration, Katie. It is like a

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Speaker 3: war zone out there sometimes.

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Speaker 1: Barry, thank you so much for having a chat with

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Speaker 1: me today. It is very much appreciated.

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Speaker 3: Great, Thank you, Katy.

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Speaker 2: Thank you