Custom Glass Solutions has developed prototypes of a reinforced cockpit to protect SEPTA bus drivers, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Bucks County SWAT team officers simulated an attack on a transit bus operator, firing 16 bullets at an unscathed crash test dummy. SEPTA plans to deploy the enclosures on eight buses this spring as a response to a surge in assaults on operators in recent years.

SEPTA would be the first U.S. transit agency to install bullet-resistant glass.

“This driver would be alive and well, [and] in a lot of cases probably uninjured,” said Chad Beach, director of product management for Custom Glass Solutions.

Attacks on bus drivers skyrocketed in 2020 and have remained higher than normal, The Inquirer said. In late October 2023, bus operator Bernard N. Gribbin was shot to death while driving his morning route in Philadelphia’s Germantown section. Four shootings took place within a week last March in Philadelphia.

“We call it transparent armor,” Tony Ricci, business development manager for Custom Glass Solutions, said.

NBC10’s video coverage is below:

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Screengrab: NBC10