One arrest in bus driver attack

The RCMP have arrested a 20-year-old man and are searching for another suspect in connection with the attack on a transit bus driver in Coquitlam on the weekend.

The driver was beaten unconscious by two youths after he asked one of them to get off the Coast Mountain bus for not having enough fare.

The rider was 50 cents short for a ticket.

The attack caused the bus to crash into a parked car, but there were no other injuries.

Anthony Michael Millwater turned himself into the RCMP on Sunday night.

Millwater appeared in court on Monday, charged with mischief under $5,000. The Crown is considering more serious charges, once the bus driver is able to tell them what happened.

The bus driver, 57, is still recovering in hospital.

Police are still looking for a 19-year-old man.

A spokesman for the union representing the drivers told CBC Radio on Monday that a system is needed to take the drivers out of the fare collection equation.

"The vast majority of these [attacks] are happening when the driver tries to do something to administer a very cumbersome and awkward and inequitable fare structure, and that leads to the dispute and the subsequent assault," said Canadian Auto Workers' vice-president Jim Houlahan.

Houlahan said he'd like to see an honour payment system similar to the one used on the SkyTrain.

The Coast Mountain Bus Company has said it's considering installing cameras on buses and protective cages for drivers.

However, Houlahan noted that those changes are at least a year away from implementation, and would provide little deterrence to attacks on drivers.

• INTERVIEW: The Early Edition's Rick Cluff speaks with CAW vice president Jim Houlahan.