LRT Safety

[thommyjo]

^They don't really. However transitioning from Commissionaires to Peace Officers will give them more authority to charge people, or confiscate drugs and move them along. Commissionaires can't intervene in any way. As of May 13 they can also ticket them $25 under the new Public Spaces Bylaw.

Idk if this is true.

They very much have and do tolerate it. Our schools certainly don’t have these issues, or rec centres. Yet nearby transit stations do.

It’s about urgency and priority of enforcement. It’s been 7+ years of homeless people and the common challenges brought with them being VERY noticeable in our stations, pedways, entrances, and trains themselves.

More could have been done and wasn’t. And we paid greatly with thousands switching off from transit “for good”. And hundreds of thousands now seeing it as unsafe and undesirable. I have multiple friends who purposefully moved far away from the LRT and bought cars after living close to century park. They purposefully avoided future valley line neighborhoods….

Vancouver has way bigger drug issues than us. Their transit has remained safe the entirety of the last 7 years.

 

[IanO]

^Vancouver, along with other cities, have had their own fair share of issues, but that's not an excuse or reason to not have a safer/better system here.

 

[David A]

Idk if this is true.

They very much have and do tolerate it. Our schools certainly don’t have these issues, or rec centres. Yet nearby transit stations do.

It’s about urgency and priority of enforcement. It’s been 7+ years of homeless people and the common challenges brought with them being VERY noticeable in our stations, pedways, entrances, and trains themselves.

More could have been done and wasn’t. And we paid greatly with thousands switching off from transit “for good”. And hundreds of thousands now seeing it as unsafe and undesirable. I have multiple friends who purposefully moved far away from the LRT and bought cars after living close to century park. They purposefully avoided future valley line neighborhoods….

Vancouver has way bigger drug issues than us. Their transit has remained safe the entirety of the last 7 years.

Yes, there are a lot of people in Edmonton who have been turned off using transit or even going downtown because of how poorly these problems have been handled, particularly over the last several years.

Recently, there was an older person who mentioned she was unhappy with the current parking changes downtown (ie. removal of the parking machines where you can pay using cash). When I suggested she could also take LRT to come to my office (which by the way is right next to an LRT station), she reacted as if I was wanting her to go to into a war zone.

 

[Offworld]

Vancouver has way bigger drug issues than us. Their transit has remained safe the entirety of the last 7 years.

With respect, I disagree with your perspective that Vancouver's transit system has been safe. And maybe you are working with a different definition of safe; I must respect that.

Since COVID started, with no exaggeration, I can attest that almost every single time I ride the various skytrain lines, there's at least one or more poor souls on the train that are in deep drug-induced comas, verbal outbursts, threats of violence. I've also witnessed many scenarios where transit staff have been called to first assess if the matter is critical. And from there, then first responders and transit police are called to address emergencies and/or escalating combativeness.

There's a reason why I never ride the fronts or backs of skytrain cars: that's where the addicts like to park.

 

[dkazzed]

I've heard a number of stories out of Vancouver and Montreal. Combine COVID shut down, fentanyl, and other more potent drugs, plus a lack of mental health and housing support systems from provincial governments whether they can't or won't give up, and you have municipal governments barely able to contain the issues. Safety and enforcement is a municipal issue, but really it's another example of cost downloading to muncipal governments

 

[David A]

We're all really sick and tired of this and yes it is probably not all the fault of one level of government, but if they can not work together and fix it soon, some of the politicians will be downloaded out of office probably starting with the municipal ones whose election is coming up next.

 

[thommyjo]

With respect, I disagree with your perspective that Vancouver's transit system has been safe. And maybe you are working with a different definition of safe; I must respect that.

Since COVID started, with no exaggeration, I can attest that almost every single time I ride the various skytrain lines, there's at least one or more poor souls on the train that are in deep drug-induced comas, verbal outbursts, threats of violence. I've also witnessed many scenarios where transit staff have been called to first assess if the matter is critical. And from there, then first responders and transit police are called to address emergencies and/or escalating combativeness.

There's a reason why I never ride the fronts or backs of skytrain cars: that's where the addicts like to park.

Yeah. Interesting. Fair to share your perspective. I’ve had only stellar experiences for the 1 week/month I’m there for work. So I’m not a daily user, but quite frequent for living out of town. Their downtown has a lot of bad spots, but I’ve always found their stations and onboard train experience much better. But I’m also riding canada line and downtown areas a lot more vs further out towards surrey where crime does increase. So maybe that’s some of it?

 

[constance_chlore]

We're all really sick and tired of this and yes it is probably not all the fault of one level of government, but if they can not work together and fix it soon, some of the politicians will be downloaded out of office probably starting with the municipal ones whose election is coming up next.

Again, I think this raises the question of who we want to replace the current council, because looking at the obvious set of competitors... I wouldn't say it looks promising. Do we really think that PACE would do a better job? The Tim Cartmell party? Because it sounds like what they want, PACE especially, is an end to densification (i.e. fewer 'eyes on the street') and disinvestment from public transit and active transportation. That all seems quite contrary to the goal of improving transit safety and reducing disorder.

There might be a few individual candidates who might take the 'right' line here. (Maybe Anand Pye in O'day-min will be one of them—we'll see.) But I would caution against a kneejerk anti-incumbent sentiment here because the alternatives really, truly can be worse.

 

[trevorhayden]

Can Knack PLEASE announce his candidacy???

 

[Offworld]

Yeah. Interesting. Fair to share your perspective. I’ve had only stellar experiences for the 1 week/month I’m there for work. So I’m not a daily user, but quite frequent for living out of town. Their downtown has a lot of bad spots, but I’ve always found their stations and onboard train experience much better. But I’m also riding canada line and downtown areas a lot more vs further out towards surrey where crime does increase. So maybe that’s some of it?

I don't wish to share more, honestly not meaning to be a debbie downer. Regretfully the Canada Line is on par if not slightly worse than the other lines. I'm on that line quite often in and out of the downtown core and use it to the airport frequently, and I feel for the poor tourists heading to/from the airport when a mostly full train smells like a porta-potty left in the sun.

Regardless, I'm glad that appears to be a program in Edmonton that is at least trying to make its transit system better for everyone. For too long, the deliberate inaction of past regimes across many cities is now seen to be untenable.

 

[edm13]

I had seen a video on Facebook with an older gentleman saying he was given a $240 ticket for smoking a cigarette at Churchill square but nothing was given or done to the drug addicts using. If true, this would be pretty disappointing. Let’s not pretend to give a damn about someone smoking a cigarette when you have to breathe in the fumes of a crack pipe so often on Edmonton transit

 

[MacLac]

I had seen a video on Facebook with an older gentleman saying he was given a $240 ticket for smoking a cigarette at Churchill square but nothing was given or done to the drug addicts using. If true, this would be pretty disappointing. Let’s not pretend to give a damn about someone smoking a cigarette when you have to breathe in the fumes of a crack pipe so often on Edmonton transit

Wouldn't it be hard to give it someone in this state? Not exactly receptive to conversation......

Courtesy of the: NY Post

 

[edm13]

Wouldn't it be hard to give it someone in this state? Not exactly receptive to conversation......

View attachment 650362

Courtesy of the: NY Post

So whether you decide to act depends on how out of it you can get? At the very least, don’t give the guy smoking a cigarette a ticket if you’re hardly willing to enforce the far more egregious acts happening on ETS

 

[David A]

Again, I think this raises the question of who we want to replace the current council, because looking at the obvious set of competitors... I wouldn't say it looks promising. Do we really think that PACE would do a better job? The Tim Cartmell party? Because it sounds like what they want, PACE especially, is an end to densification (i.e. fewer 'eyes on the street') and disinvestment from public transit and active transportation. That all seems quite contrary to the goal of improving transit safety and reducing disorder.

There might be a few individual candidates who might take the 'right' line here. (Maybe Anand Pye in O'day-min will be one of them—we'll see.) But I would caution against a kneejerk anti-incumbent sentiment here because the alternatives really, truly can be worse.

You could be right that alternative is worse, but at this point I feel the frustration with the incumbents is much greater than the fear of the alternatives.

 

[Yeggy]

Yes, there are a lot of people in Edmonton who have been turned off using transit or even going downtown because of how poorly these problems have been handled, particularly over the last several years.

Recently, there was an older person who mentioned she was unhappy with the current parking changes downtown (ie. removal of the parking machines where you can pay using cash). When I suggested she could also take LRT to come to my office (which by the way is right next to an LRT station), she reacted as if I was wanting her to go to into a war zone.

I took two long term residents of Edmonton on the lrt to go see a movie dt, I was shocked to learn a) they had never taken a bus/lrt b) didnt even know how to buy a ticket.