Transit Safety and Security Plan
Today at City Council we were presented the Transit Safety and Security Plan. I know that many residents have concerns regarding safety around transit and the disorder that happens on transit. There are many residents who have no choice but to take transit but feel unsafe when they take it for a variety of reasons. The Transit Safety and Security Plan aims to enhance safety measures and protocols.
Transit hubs are meant to be vibrant, bustling community centres; however with the decrease in ridership due to COVID-19, the sense of safety and community in the transit system has temporarily changed. Public spaces have shifted in their use, specifically within our city’s downtown core in volume and capacity.
With an increase in mental health challenges, the drug poisoning epidemic, and displacement from other spaces, the transit system is seen as a safe place for the most vulnerable within our communities to congregate and shelter.
As part of the Transit Safety and Security Plan, The City of Edmonton, the Edmonton Police Service and Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society will establish a tripartite leadership committee. The tripartite leadership committee will focus on coordinated strategies and responses as well as immediate support for Edmontonians using the transit system for shelter. As these strategies, responses and support mechanisms are operationalized, enforcement may occur when social disorder, problematic and illegal behaviour arises from congregating and sheltering in Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) facilities.
Accompanying this report were the following attachments:
Transit Safety & Security Logic Model
Edmonton: Safe City - The Community Response to Preventing and Addressing Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls in Public Spaces
GBA+ Reporting
As the work proceeds, ongoing assessments of additional safety enhancements will be evaluated for implementation.
With the decrease in ridership, a result has also been a decrease in inherent natural surveillance, due to daily activity and ridership. There are a number of creative solutions suggested to combat this such as welcoming art, performances, and vendors into the space. Other places in the world are accustomed to seeing vendors at train stations or forms of recreation at train and bus stations. These create neighbourhood hubs that increase safety through community visibility.
The tripartite leadership committee will focus on:
Coordinating crime prevention strategies and targeted responses to criminal activity; and
Ensuring that people experiencing homelessness who use the LRT system for shelter are provided with the supports they need now, as the City and its partners work towards addiction, intervention and housing solutions.
The approach for transit safety and security includes Police officer, Transit Peace Officer and Security Guard roles.
The following questions will be explored as this work proceeds:
How can security guards most effectively support the LRT system? Currently, security guards are deployed using analytics and are often the first line of response for medical and safety issues.
What does Transit Peace Officer support look like as the LRT network is expanded? Administration will need to determine an ideal resource complement to provide service and supports to transit patrons and vulnerable Edmontonians.
In what circumstances should the City consider reduced access to transit facilities? Administration is evaluating operational policies and best practices to understand if/when facility bans would be fair and appropriate. Administration is also considering if some areas of LRT facilities should be access restricted through physical means (ie. using a barrier system to restrict access to “paid” areas).
Are there additional options to enhance safety for the public, transit employees, support providers and enforcement teams? A strong collaborative relationship between enforcement officers and outreach workers is necessary to build trust with the marginalized populations.
Transit riders have shared their feedback through many channels including formal research,
input to 311, social media and correspondence to their Councillors. Many patrons have expressed concerns about an increase in drug use and social disorder in public spaces. Some transit riders feel uneasy, and at times, unsafe, in this environment but also demonstrate concern for their community members who are impacted by homelessness, mental health challenges and the drug poisoning crisis.
Formal research advises Administration that:
Since 2015, perceptions of feeling safe overall in public transit have fallen slightly from a high of 83 per cent to 78 per cent in 2021.
In 2021, perceptions of feeling unsafe at a transit stop or station have varied. In the last three months of the year, perceptions of feeling unsafe improved month-over-month from twelve percent of riders feeling unsafe to five per cent.
The Transit Safety Plan within this report will build upon previous work laid out in City Operations report CO00526 -Transit Centre Security Measures presented to the Urban Planning Committee on May 11, 2021, and foundational investments made in 2018. These investments included:
$12.8 million to install bus shields on the conventional bus fleet for Operator safety;
$10.2 million to increase the number of Transit Peace Officers and ETS Control Centre staff to align with growth in the transit system and provide 24/7 coverage, as well as add Security Guards at 21 of the 43 transit facilities and LRT stations; and,
$877,000 invested in building a continuous training program for Transit Operators.
The three year pilot program (2023-2025) requires $3.9 million in funding from 2022 to 2025 (annual costs of $1.27 million, for 3 years, with a one time $60,000 vehicle purchase)
In summary, the proposed funding for the entire plan would come from the following sources:
$1.1 million - COVID-19 funds with the appropriated Financial Stabilization Reserve.
$1.7 million - Edmonton Police Services funds held corporately within Financial Strategies.
$1.1 million - Financial Stabilization Reserve.
While this is a fantastic initiative that utilizes partnership and collaboration, this is still a reactive measure. I want to emphasize that we must keep pushing for proactive solutions. The primary solution is to provide upstream support, specifically housing, so that people have a safe place to be and get the necessary care they need.
There are many perspectives to look at transit safety from. Our transit system is a reflection of how we move and an extension of how we treat all residents. Our transit system impacts our most vulnerable, marginalized Edmontonians, women and gender diverse individuals, our youth and our business community. And I understand why people would be scared to take transit. As our city it is our responsibility to ensure that everyone feels safe.
