Bus drivers in downtown Brooklyn rallied Monday for better protection from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in the wake of a recent uptick in riders assaulting drivers, according to an article from NY1 News.

Several drivers who have been assaulted demand that the MTA install partitions and security cameras on buses more quickly, the article says. Currently, only 12 percent of all city buses have one or the other.

When Brooklyn bus driver Mark Anthony Salandy was stabbed with a syringe on his route last week, his bus had neither protection, the article says. Salandy told NY1 that he fears the syringe was infected, and that he thinks a partition would have given him the time he needed to stop the attack or call for help.

MTA officials say through the end of August there have been 62 assaults – up 3 percent from the same time last year.

The agency says it is installing more barriers and cameras and is working with Albany to make one of the most common offenses – spitting on drivers – a crime.