Edmonton Transit peace officers will start riding buses to keep drivers and passengers safe in light of a number of recent attacks.

"That's to make sure there's a visible presence and people know that we're serious," city transportation general manager Bob Boutilier said Thursday.

There have been 75 assaults on drivers in the past 12 months, with the most serious being an attack on veteran ETS driver Tom Bregg.

Bregg suffered severe head injuries and nearly died after he was badly beaten by a man who boarded his bus during the morning rush hour on Dec. 3. A 24-year-old man was charged with attempted murder.

Edmonton Transit is also installing more closed circuit cameras on buses to monitor passenger behaviour and use GPS and automatic vehicle location devices. ETS is also installing radios with a dedicated emergency channel on trains and buses.

ETS is still looking at installing safety shields for drivers, but Boutilier said drivers are concerned that would prevent them from interacting with passengers.

"99.9 percent of the people who get on the bus are decent people. They like that interaction," he said. "It's very disappointing that a few idiots should cause all this trouble but we will do our best to get those idiots."

In a news release, the city announced plans to review its bylaws and may hike fines for inappropriate behaviour on city buses. It will also look at what other municipalities are doing, hold own hall meetings with drivers and have ETS management ride buses with safety officers to get a better sense of the problem.