Calgary approves public transit safety strategy, pending budget's green light

A public transit safety strategy for Calgary was unanimously approved by city council on Tuesday, amid ongoing concern over crime along our train lines and bus routes.

"The safety strategy provides better response times, so that when Calgarians are encountering issues, they're resolved much more quickly, but it also allows us to control areas effectively and in a more co-ordinated fashion," said Sharon Fleming, director for Calgary Transit.

"It also ensures that these officers are available in the system at any one time."

The strategy has been given the thumbs-up, but it is still subject to council's approval of its $15-million price tag as part of November's budget adjustment process.

However, with a one-time operational budget of $8.7 million approved by council in June, the city has already begun work.

At its core, the plan aims to take a multi-disciplinary approach to deploy integrated teams of uniformed Calgary police, transit peace officers and security guards at high-risk locations.

The hubs where increased patrols are set to be implemented include the Westbrook, Downtown and Whitehorn LRT stations.

Aaron Coon, the city's public vehicle standards chief, says the city will take a compassionate approach, focusing on providing alternatives to the more vulnerable population using transit as shelter.

He says the strategy will be rolled out within the next 18 months, but patrols at the three hub locations will be increased much sooner.

"Our peace officers are going to be working to get our corporate security in position with the city and we're expecting to have those three hubs in place by December," Coon said.

"We needed to make sure we had the resources in place to achieve that timed response target of 10 minutes."

The strategy also features comprehensive training for frontline staff to address safety, and investments in community programming to create a more positive experience.

Additionally, plans are in the works to improve cleaning measures at transit stations and discourage negative behaviours.

Deputy Chief Chad Tawfik with the Calgary Police Service says the strategy will increase the visibility of response teams and transit ambassadors while modernizing communication systems to reduce emergency response times.

"Public transit in a major city has been compared to the cardiovascular system in how critical they are to overall vitality and well-being. Similarly, public safety across all communities in Calgary is dependent upon the safety of the transit system," he said.

"The Calgary Police Service is an essential partner in collaboration with public transit safety in setting priorities and working to optimize our efforts and address the areas of greatest need. We will make Calgary safer by working together."

CALGARIANS LOSING CONFIDENCE IN PUBLIC SAFETY

According to Calgary's 2023 fall research results, the perception of public safety in the city remains one of the biggest issues for citizens.

The survey found:

• 35 per cent agree public transit in Calgary is safe for all users overall;
• 94 per cent agree the city should be doing more to address safety issues downtown;
• 56 per cent agree Calgary is safe for residents and visitors overall; and
• 46 per cent agree crime in their neighbourhood during the past three years has increased.

The survey was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs from Aug. 2 to Sept 4 with 2,500 Calgarians by telephone and with a margin of error of +/- 2.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

For Calgarians like Alison Anderson, these survey numbers are staggering, but sadly not surprising given the frightening experience her son had while taking a bus home late one night

"He was on the bus around 11 o'clock at night and a man initially asked him his name. He said his first name," Anderson said.

"The man then asked my son, 'Hey, are you side-eyeing me?' And that's when he pulled a gun and showed it underneath his waistband and said, 'Do you want to lose your life tonight?'"

Thankfully, Anderson's son was able to get off at the next stop and run home.

The incident was reported to police and a man was arrested.

He was allegedly in possession of a BB gun -- not a firearm -- but Anderson says the experience itself was terrifying to hear about.

"This happened in a residential community, so not even on the CTrain or anything like that," she said.

"The young person who was arrested was probably going through mental health issues, but really, we need to address people going through these issues and make sure we see an increased presence on transit and that people are checking."