Assaults, being spit on, and in 2017 the worst fear came true, a transit driver stabbed to death.

These are realities bus drivers live with.

Regular bus rider Benjamin Dueck says driving a bus in Winnipeg is a job he would never want because of what he sees drivers go through when it comes to problem passengers.

“They'll be aggressive with the bus drivers and it's a very tough roll for them to be in," said Dueck.

Amalgamated Transit Union president Aleem Chaudhrey says the turnover rate for transit is growing because of the pressures on board.

"The morale is down, the stress is high, as you know it's not an easy job to do, so it has an overall effect," said Chaudhrey.

City numbers show in the 2015/16 year 94 drivers and mechanics quit, were fired or retired. The next year, a slight increase to 97, followed by 114 in 2017/18.

The union says it has numbers for March 2018 to March 2019 that show the number jumping to 138.

The city could not provide a breakdown of how many cases involved just driver resignations. The union claims most were drivers quitting well before their time. It wants the city to hire an independent third party to do exit interviews.

“We would love to know why these people are leaving," said Chaudhrey.

In a statement, the city says this is happening.

"Winnipeg Transit operations supervisors meet with operators who are leaving their positions to determine their reason for doing so that information is logged and tracked."

Benjamin Dueck says the city and transit can't fix everything, he says it's all about how you treat your driver.

"When something happens on the bus they're often blamed all the time so I think it's more of a public thing, I think people just need to you know respect the bus drivers," said Dueck.

Transit currently has around 1,400 ATU employees including 1,100 drivers.