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LRT Safety

thommyjo said:
Why is an LRT station treated differently than a rec center, library, school, city hall, or any other public building? I don’t get it.
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Absolutely true. I think it's because there hasn't been much pushback to having homeless people and drug addicts using these spaces as temporary shelter during the day, especially when the weather is cold. It just comes off as cruel if the police or Peace officers are seen as kicking these people out.

The thing is that they make a lot of people feel unsafe, and the least that should be done is kicking these people out of transit centers and stations. What to be done afterwards is a social issue and should be dealt with there, but at the least once these addicts especially realize they can't use transit centers to do drugs, they will stop going there. The problem isn't solved for their drug use, but at the least it's not a transit problem anymore.
 
I think it’s like the broken window theory. Broken windows left unrepaired attract more broken windows and more crime. We need to change the mentality that the criminals are “poor victims”. Even if we built enough housing to house the homeless, we would still have homelessness.
 
LRT use as shelter during the day and drug use has been normalized over COVID due to lack of people using the stations. I'm not sure what kind of affect the transit loitering bylaw fine removal had, (Councillor Paquette) but EPS claim it's a issue for them to remove folks. There has been more reliance on peace officers, transit security and intervention teams to deal with issues.

The other issue is lack of day shelter space, which the City is trying to tackle in the absence of provincial supports on the issue. Freeing up more day shelter space, and eventually a 24/7 wet shelter, is key to the LRT/pedway loitering and drug use.
 
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It is a complex problem and people are entitled to feel safe on transit, but cracking down on disorder in LRT stations while doing nothing else only moves the problem elsewhere. Social disorder isn't resolved because people have been moved to another part of the city to cause the same types of problems.

I'm not opposed to a no-tolerance approach to transit violence, but alone that does nothing and we'll continue to waste massive amount of money on police, fire and EMS to provide services that never actually solve the problem. I'm skeptical that once downtown returns to 'normal' and the disorder becomes less visible again that anything will change.
 
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Ol’ Steve-O riding transit in Edmonton learned that ya ain’t pissed ‘til your pants are.
 
Friday night I finished load out of the Slipknot concert at Rogers Place. As I walked back to my vehicle I passed by the MacEwan station. It was approximately 1:40 am. The interior main area to get to the LRT platform was filled with homeless settling in for the night. If I'm not mistaken that space should have been closed by then so should have been empty, although as I walked past one guy was trying to close the automatic sliding door that had been opened like a regular hinged door. Now if this station were still open, even I wouldn't feel that safe (I don't get scared easily, and am not easily bothered by homeless) to walk through to get to the platform.
 
The lack of safety, state and unpredictability of our current transit system, especially in and around Downtown stations, has pushed a good amount of former transit users that I know back into cars for the first time in years. COVID might have contributed, but the overall decline has been far more impactful to previously regular users. This extends to folks who used to LRT to Oilers games and now drive again:(

Here's hoping a far more concerted effort continues.
 
Who's up for a challenge?
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City of Edmonton
82,622 followers
24m • 24 minutes ago

Would you like to play an influential role in creating a safe and inclusive environment in Edmonton's transit network? If so, take a look at this exciting opportunity below.

As the City of Edmonton continues to welcome back riders to transit, the search for a new Director of Transit Safety has started. In collaboration with Edmonton Police Service and Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society, the Director will provide leadership to a joint safety operations team consisting of Transit Peace Officers, Police Officers, Community Standards Peace Officers, the Community Outreach Transit Team (COTT) and Fire Rescue Services with a mandate of increasing transit safety. Furthermore, the Director will also coordinate crime prevention strategies and targeted responses to criminal activity while building influential relationships to advance the enhanced Transit Safety Plan.

To learn more about this position, or to submit your application, visit bit.ly/3keKwYB

Applications will be accepted until May 13, 2022.
 
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