Bus crews are being issued with the special kits
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Bus drivers who are spat at by abusive passengers are being given swab kits to collect evidence against their attackers.
Crews in South Yorkshire will be given the DNA collection kits as part of a drive by transport officials and police to cut out bad behaviour.
More than 3,000 kits which include gloves, swabs and an evidence bag have been distributed.
Used swabs will be checked against a database and offenders tracked down.
Staff feel safe
Duncan Roberts, the chairman of the South Yorkshire bus and tram operators, said the kits were the first move in combating anti-social behaviour towards public transport staff.
"Although spitting incidents occur in our communities from time-to-time, thankfully they are extremely rare on public transport and we want to keep it that way.
"In order to do their job well our staff need to feel safe at all times and we believe issuing DNA kits will help us achieve this."
Ch Insp Trevor Bichard of South Yorkshire Police commented: "The issue of DNA evidence sample kits is a new concept locally which is designed to help identify offenders who commit serious crime on public transport.
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