Page 21 - 2021 TAT Annual Report

Bus drivers from the Hillsborough County School District in Tampa learned about human trafficking from Lexi Higgins, BOTL program specialist.
Through its partnership with the National Rural Transit Assistance Program (NRTAP), BOTL has trained 981 frontline
transit personnel from
197 rural transit providers,
including 14 tribal transit
systems, in 48 states.
In 2021, this partnership
opened doors to reaching
tribal leaders through the
National Transportation in
Indian Country Conference. The session that BOTL coordinated featured speakers from the Comanche
Nation Transit (OK), First Nations Healthsource (NM) and the Puyallup Tribe of Indians Community Domestic Violence Advocacy Program (WA).
“Human trafficking is a major issue of concern for tribal communi- ties throughout the United States and ensuring that transit providers are aware of the issue and know the steps they can take to respond to it is critical to the safety and wellbeing of those communities,” shared Neil Rodriguez, manager of the Tribal Transit Program for the National Rural Transit Assistance Program.
Whether it’s in the U.S. or Canada, people respond to BOTL training with praise. “As the largest intercity bus transportation
provider in the United States, we have committed ourselves to training our employees and implementing practices geared towards identifying and protecting victims of human trafficking,” stated Bobby Quinten, director of Training and Development, Greyhound Lines, Inc. “Busing on the Lookout has been a critical program in helping our team members become aware of the signs of human trafficking and has helped empower them to take action, leading
to many success stories across our company.”
“[Coach USA is] proud to be one of the largest bus companies in the country and the first bus company with a national footprint to take part in the Busing on the Lookout training
... We are fully committed to make every effort to fight this national growing epidemic through education and training.”
— Linda Burtwistle, president and CEO of Coach USA
“The practice of human trafficking is a scourge in our country. We are a proud partner of Truckers Against Trafficking and Busing on the Lookout as we work together to educate our members and drivers on how to recognize human traffickers using motorcoaches.”
— Peter Pantuso, president and CEO of the American Bus Association
TRUCKERS AGAINST TRAFFICKING 2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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