Photo: CTV

Transit drivers in Vancouver will soon be protected by shields.

TransLink has announced it will be installing barriers on 208 buses and six trolley buses after spending two years testing designs and getting feedback.

All new buses will also have shields installed.

The barrier will have a sliding window so drivers can still interact face to face with passengers.

"I love that this window slides. This is such a great option," driver Dee Cooke said.

Coast Mountain Bus Company, which is TransLink's largest operating company, said 100 bus drivers are attacked every year.

"It's everything from being yelled at and threatened to being spit on and physical attacks, which is punching and kicking and that sort of thing," said Derek Stewart, director of safety for Coast Mountain.

BC Transit drivers in Kelowna have been asking for similar shields.

Scott Lovell, president of the local Amalgamated Transit Union, has told Castanet shields are needed to protect drivers from attacks.

The shields were supposed to be ready in October. Lovell said he hopes they will be installed once transit's new fiscal year begins April 1.

He said the shield would not only protect the driver, but in the case of a brutal West Kelowna attack, could save lives.

– with files from CTV Vancouver and Wayne Moore