Data released in a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) report and through a new city of Toronto dashboard shows safety and security incidents on transit are decreasing due to enhanced measures.
The indicators come after the implementation of $5 million in new initiatives and enhanced measures over the past several months that were announced in January 2023 and approved in the 2023 operating budget. The TTC says Initiatives intended to improve community safety and wellbeing on the transit system continue to progress and are ongoing.
The TTC, the city of Toronto and other municipal and external partners will report on the progress of transit system community safety and wellbeing monthly on the new public dashboard. The Community Safety & Wellbeing on Transit dashboard is a data-sharing collaboration between the city of Toronto and the TTC and will monitor incidents against customers and employees, customer sentiment and assistance offered to people in crisis.
The partnership between TTC and the city of Toronto advances SafeTO, Toronto's 10-Year Community Safety and Well-Being Plan, including Priority Action 7.1, which mandates the city of Toronto to develop a comprehensive strategy to share, integrate and analyze data across multiple institutions for the purpose of informing real-time policy development and service planning.
The TTC notes that according to the tracked dashboard data, the rate of offences against customers (per 1 million boardings) has decreased by 33 percent since January. The rate of offences against employees also dropped in the same time period, as well as the types of offences have become less aggressive in nature. Additionally, the data shows more than 2,000 site visits from Streets-to-Homes teams have occurred since January 2023, resulting in individuals with complex needs being referred to shelters and being connected with mental health supports.
“I’m pleased to see the investments and the coordinated response between the city and the TTC are working to improve safety for riders and workers,” said Toronto Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie. “The TTC plays a vitally important role in keeping Toronto moving and everyone needs to feel safe and be safe while on it.”
“Decisions our Board has made to invest in safety, security and cleanliness are clearly paying off,” said TTC Chair Jon Burnside. “We will continue to monitor this program through regular updates and reports as safety remains our paramount concern.”
In January 2023, in response to several high-profile crimes, the TTC entered into a collaboration with the city of Toronto’s Shelter, Support and Housing Administration and Social Development, Finance and Administration divisions, Toronto Police Service and Toronto Public Health to create a coordinated response designed to improve safety and restore confidence in the TTC as a safe place for customers and employees.
Among the steps taken:
- Increased presence of Special Constables, Station Supervisors, Mobile Supervisors using designated TTC vehicles and Fare Inspectors
- 115 management/non-union staff deployed daily to engage with frontline staff to better understand and report issues and concerns
- 20 Community Safety Ambassadors situated on TTC property to support safety needs related to persons experiencing homelessness and individuals with complex needs
- 50 Security Guards supporting TTC customers’ safe travel experience, positioned in assessed key areas and the subway network
- Police officers assigned to patrol the TTC on a regular basis
- Enhanced station cleanings
- Additional Streets to Homes outreach teams connecting people with shelter and housing services
- LOFT and Multi-Disciplinary Outreach Team support services one-year pilot providing mental health crisis supports
- Enhanced and expanded de-escalation training for employees
- TTC seconded to the city of Toronto to support initiatives
- A broad range of training, communications, jurisdictional reviews and analytics integration initiatives
“I want to thank our employees and our city partners for the hard work to tackle the complex challenges our system has faced over the past several months,” said TTC CEO Rick Leary. “As promising as this trend is, we know the job is far from done. We remain committed to building on these initiatives to ensure we are addressing the concerns we’ve heard.”
Another safety update report will be provided to the TTC Board this fall.
The full report can be found on TTC’s website.
