What's happening and why so many angry abusive operators

There is an actual psychological syndrome called 'anger displacement' that I believe is happening to many Trimet operators. Operators are being abused constantly at work by the Trimet management so they are 'displacing' their anger towards riders. 
I remember myself having come from an abusive meeting with Trimet managers on more than one occasion and being sent to drive a bus and how hard it was to keep my anger off the poor riders who have nothing to do with any of the management actions. Believe me it wasn't easy. A less conscious person would probably never know they were doing it.

Displaced anger is anger that has been routed away from healthy expression through a coping mechanism. In most cases, displacement is the process of moving anger away from the actual target onto a target the mind feels may be safer. This person who bears the brunt of displaced anger may have no idea what happened to cause the anger, thus damaging his or her relationship with the angry person. Anger of this type is also problematic because it does not allow for resolution of the anger itself, and the effects of anger can build up over time.

Read the full article:  What Is Displaced Anger?