When our customers get on our buses, streetcar, or ferries, they are entrusting CAT with their personal safety. Here at CAT, we take that responsibility seriously. Safely moving our customers is our most important task.

We are building a new headquarters to add even better service to our state-of-the-art operations Control Center. Through this Center, we are in constant contact with every vehicle on the street (or in the water). We use a radio system that connects dispatchers at the Center to bus operators and streetcar conductors out in the city at all times. In addition, our vehicles are equipped with a camera system that can send direct feeds to the Center. Simply put, our Control Center staff monitors the movements of each vehicle in the city and all the activity on it.

All CAT bus, ferry and streetcar operators undergo rigorous safety training before they are allowed in the operator’s seat. Safety and customer service training remains ongoing throughout their careers at CAT.

Safety on CAT Vehicles

When a customer gets injured on one of our vehicles, the injury is typically the result of stumbling, slipping, or falling. Help us make your ride a safe one.

• If you need a moment to get to an open seat, feel free to ask the operator not to move the vehicle until you are able to sit down.
• Hold on to poles or straps if no seats are available.
• If standing, try to stay behind the line on the floor near the fare box.
• On rainy days, customers track in water, so be particularly careful when moving about on buses, ferries, and streetcars.
• Watch your step when boarding and exiting vehicles.
• When exiting at a rear door, pay attention to closing doors and be aware of the high steps.

Courtesy on CAT Vehicles

An important part of safety is being courteous to others sharing the ride with you.

• Don’t talk to or distract the operator when a vehicle is in motion.
• No eating, drinking, or smoking is allowed on vehicles.
• Have your fare counted out and in hand when entering the vehicle in order to help everyone board quickly and safely.
• Enter at the front of the vehicle. Exit by the rear doors.
• The seats behind the operator are designated for passengers with disabilities, senior citizens, and pregnant women. Please respect your fellow community members who need these seats.
• When customers are boarding the vehicle with the lift mechanism, please give plenty of space to them and to the operator assisting them.
• Young children should be removed from strollers and placed on a seat or carried on an adult’s lap. Strollers need to be folded up and put securely out of the way of other customers.
• No amplified music is allowed. If you are listening to music with headphones, the music should be quiet enough that other customers cannot hear it. Please refrain from loud cell phone conversations, as well.
• If the bus, ferry or streetcar is crowded, please remove packages from the seat next to you so that others may sit down.

Security on CAT Vehicles

You’ll be safest on CAT when you are aware of what’s going on around you. So don’t fall asleep on the vehicles, don’t play your personal music too loudly, and don’t become too engrossed in a book or handheld device.

If you see something dangerous or even suspicious on the CAT system, please tell the vehicle operator or call 911. Keep an eye out for unattended bags at CAT stops or on CAT vehicles and for people acting oddly or suspiciously.

CAT does not have to allow drunk or unruly people to ride the system. If someone is acting intoxicated or in an unsafe manner, discreetly tell the operator and return to your seat. The operator is trained to know what to do in such situations. He or she may call a CAT dispatcher, the police, or an ambulance on a case-by-case basis.