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LRT Safety

I did drive around and take the train downtown today round midday and yeah, I gotta agree that there seems to be more unsavoury figures just hanging around the transit stations (including the Churchill Connector, most recently just saw some people at the Corona entrance this afternoon). However, it seems like they don’t stay as long as previous times, probably from the increased EPS, peace officer and vested security presence that seem to patrol the stations. Do I think they can do a better job? Probably, but it’s a large improvement so far.

Honestly the increased foot traffic (especially around the Valley Line) has helped immensely. It doesn’t feel as sketchy despite having sketchier people being in the area, just based on the volume of other people lately.
 
Kosy123 said:
I did drive around and take the train downtown today round midday and yeah, I gotta agree that there seems to be more unsavoury figures just hanging around the transit stations (including the Churchill Connector, most recently just saw some people at the Corona entrance this afternoon). However, it seems like they don’t stay as long as previous times, probably from the increased EPS, peace officer and vested security presence that seem to patrol the stations. Do I think they can do a better job? Probably, but it’s a large improvement so far.

Honestly the increased foot traffic (especially around the Valley Line) has helped immensely. It doesn’t feel as sketchy despite having sketchier people being in the area, just based on the volume of other people lately.
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That's one big point I keep hammering on: Edmonton doesn't have necessarily more sketchy people than most places, they're just that much more visible for lack of "regular" people, for lack of a better term.
As foot traffic increases, this becomes less noticeable and the perception of safety improves.
 
ChazYEG said:
That's one big point I keep hammering on: Edmonton doesn't have necessarily more sketchy people than most places, they're just that much more visible for lack of "regular" people, for lack of a better term.
As foot traffic increases, this becomes less noticeable and the perception of safety improves.
Click to expand...
I don't want to get tooooo ahead of myself here, but I think we might have underestimated the effect of LRT/downtown safety perception that the Valley Line will have. It's probably an unintended pro in my opinion.
The_Cat said:
They need signs at all the LRT Stations. Yesterday, I saw someone loiter at Bonnie Doon Station.
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They really do! I would personally like to see more visible cameras (or hell even just say in big letters that this area is being monitored), or even an easier 3-4 digit number for transit safety. I think the proposed transit attendants would also be a big help, and I'd love to see them at the big major entrances to downtown stations.

Perception REALLY is everything, and I really do hope that some people out there in decision making roles can see and understand that.
 
ChazYEG said:
That's one big point I keep hammering on: Edmonton doesn't have necessarily more sketchy people than most places, they're just that much more visible for lack of "regular" people, for lack of a better term.
As foot traffic increases, this becomes less noticeable and the perception of safety improves.
Click to expand...
Good point. A big difference with some other cities our size and larger is we really only had one main LRT line running until a week ago (sorry Metro is still sort of a spur line). So with the new line adding service to all of the south east, it can add a lot of people and that will also benefit the existing line, as some of those people will transfer to go on that. So, our LRT will be busier overall with more regular people riding.
 
They are fewer and far between (thankfully, that's a trend towards the right direction), but these seem to be happening during off peak hours when there's less security presence involved.

I personally can't wait for all the bad Reddit/Tiktok hot takes on transit as a result. Frankly Reddit has started to reach Facebook levels of ridiculousness when it comes to this.
 
I went through Coliseum Station this past Friday on my way for some brewskies downtown with some friends. A side from a drunk/high girl following me up the escalator and trying to start a fight, it wasn't that bad... then I got to Central Station and made the mistake of trying to exit out onto 101 street by Bistro Praha. What a sad, disgusting scene the stairwell up to the street is. I'll never do that again
 
I just can’t believe that a multi billion dollar system with hundreds of thousands of weekly users isn’t being sorted with more urgency.

Imagine if this was a road, how quickly we’d seek to fix it if it consistently caused injuries and had major shutdowns every few days.
 
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