Veteran Metro driver: ‘It's not that buses are unsafe… Seattle is unsafe’

When they reach their destination, King County Metro bus riders often thank drivers before they hop off. That sign of civility surprises some visitors to our region. Last week's stabbing death of Metro bus driver Shawn Yim came as a shock to many who ride busses and appreciate the work drivers do.

Nathan Vass has been a metro driver for 18 years. He's also a writer and filmmaker. He counted Shawn Yim among his friends. He told KUOW’s Rob Wood about Yim’s life and loss, and the role bus drivers play in our city.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Rob Wood: What should people know about Shawn Yim?

Nathan Vass: I think the thing to remember is that he was a decent guy. I am lucky to have been his friend. We went to the same coffee shop. I'd see him pretty regularly. He knew my partner, who speaks Korean. They would speak Korean together. He was one of the few Korean American operators at Atlantic Base, where we both worked, and so we had that sort of unspoken connection that was unique, and we'd have conversations that were a lot of fun. I miss the guy.

Is there anything in particular that you remember fondly about him?

I always called him by his full name because it made him laugh. He had a great laugh. And he worked a lot. Both of us had the seniority to drive easier bus routes at easier times of day, but for some reason we were both drawn to working nights, and it was nice to do those routes together with somebody who actually wanted to be there.

This is the first violent death of a driver on the job since 1998. What message do you have for Metro riders in terms of safety?

I think a lot of us are in shock right now. We humans respond emotionally rather than logically when these sorts of things happen. A lot of passengers or friends of mine that I talk to are telling me how they're saving up to buy cars, they're investing in weapons, they're going to ride their bike to work rather than take the bus, because dealing with rush-hour traffic on a bicycle feels more safe. I can understand all of that, but let's remember that driving in a car is statistically less safe than riding a bus.

Would you say that busses are safe overall?

Keeping in mind that my experience is anecdotal, and that I drive the high-security routes, I would say that they feel unsafe. It's up to others to assert whether or not that's actually true, but it does not feel like a safe space.

Let's talk a little bit about solutions. Are there things that Metro and King County should or could be doing to keep drivers and passengers safe? Do you have a wish list of sorts?

I want to emphasize that my experience and my perspective is anecdotal, and I speak for myself, not Metro. In terms of what we're talking about with respect to safety, it's important to remember that this problem is not a bus problem. It's not that busses are unsafe, it's that Seattle is unsafe. The purview of fixing that is on the shoulders of the King County Council, of the City of Seattle, not on the shoulders of Metro. This is a larger problem.

When we're asking the question of how do we fix this problem of Seattle, of violence and anti-social behavior, etc., what we're really asking is, how do you make people civil? And I'm just the bus driver, I don't have the answer to that, but what I would say is that a good starting point is you’ve got to meet people's needs first. People are able to be empathetic and care about other people when their own needs have been met first. And a lot of these folks who are struggling, who are a danger to themselves, to others, should not be just thrown out into the street to rot amongst the crowd. That doesn't help them, it doesn't help the people around them, and creates all kinds of issues. And if this was an easy problem to solve, we wouldn't have it in so many large American cities.

I think one of the reasons so little action has been taken is, politically, it's not popular to invest something that's going to cost a ton of money, an investment probably for a financial loss, even if it's for the benefit of the city.

Is there a last thought you'd like to share with listeners about your friend Shawn Yim?

There are two things I'd like to end on. One, usually you can say, it could have been worse, but here, I don't think you can. Dying alone in an alley, bleeding out, with no one around in the middle of the night, is terrible. It can hardly be worse than that. As a bus driver, you often have sort of stressful dreams as you imagine bad situations. There's a part of me that hopes that Shawn Yim just thought, "Oh, maybe this is one of those terrible dreams, and I'm going to wake up in a few minutes and everything will be all right."

The other thing is, I don't want there to be antagonism between drivers and passengers, between people on who are living on the street in Seattle and everyone else in Seattle. I don't want this event to turn into that. I was talking with a homeless guy one night on my bus. He said, "90% of any group of people, whether it's homeless people, cops, whatever, any demographic, 90% is usually pretty cool. It's only the 10% that's high profile that everyone pays attention to, and they're jerks, but most of these groups are all right." And I thought, you know, that makes a lot of sense. I want people to remember that as they go about their day. Let's not ostracize entire groups of people just because of behavior of one person.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.