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Lawmaker urges tougher penalties under H.255 after Green Mountain Transit reports driver assaults
Summary
Representative Emily Prasnow told the House Judiciary Committee that H.255 would add public transit workers to protected-professional statutes after Green Mountain Transit reported four assaults on staff in 2024 and two more so far in 2025; committee members asked for clearer definitions and broader scope.
Representative Emily Prasnow, Chittenden-9 of South Burlington, testified Feb. 28 before the House Judiciary Committee in support of H.255, a bill that would extend enhanced criminal protections to public transit workers, saying the measure responds to a rising risk of assaults on transit staff.
Prasnow told the committee that Green Mountain Transit (GMT) Urban Operations recorded four assaults against staff in 2024 among 78 employees (an annual assault rate she characterized as 5 percent) and two additional assaults so far in 2025. She said one 2024 incident involved a driver being assaulted while the bus was in motion in Burlington and that such attacks could produce catastrophic harm to drivers, passengers, pedestrians…
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