That chart is really not good. It looks like we started in a similar place to Calgary and Toronto, but it increased a lot more here and hasn't come back down much.
Also worse here than Vancouver and Winnipeg. Something is wrong here that still needs a lot more effort and attention to deal with and improve.
We all know what the issues are, and the many different solutions possible for this issue.
I will die on the hill that we should have fare gates, and I do not buy into the argument that it is too expensive. I honestly believe that the amount of money lost on fare evasion that would be recovered by doing this, plus the increase in ridership that would come from the increased safety (and even more so the perception of safety) would pay for that withing a couple of years. Fare gates create a safe space inside stations and the effects and ramifications of this are many. Does it address the root of the issue? Definitely not, but does offer a solution to deal with the immediate problem. Right now, regular, paying users (and even non-users, considering that everyone's tax dollars are used to provide transit, as it should be) are the ones bearing the brunt of the burden created by all the crime and disorder in the system, while we insist that the honour system still works nowadays because it it in the 1980s and we don't wanna change it. Big city problems require big city solutions.
I just think about how in São Paulo, a 30M+ people macrometropolis in a developing country with substantially higher social disorder and crime rates than anywhere in Canada, where subway stations reach some of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in South America (and likely the world), the subway system is so safe that even the police recommends that if you feel unsafe at any point, head to a subway station and get past the fare gates if you can.
It also wouldn't hurt to have permanent police presence in some stations, especially all the Downtown ones, as well as University, Stadium, Coliseum, Southgate and Century Park. Just have a pair of cops patrolling the station, before fare gates, throughout the day. Many cities around the world do that in stations/stops that are known for being unsafe/problematic. I've seen it in NYC, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Madrid, Chicago. Add some dedicated Peace Officers to ride the system , from end to end, through the day, and I bet we'd see crime drop down to near zero and an immediate change in the perception of safety, not only of the LRT but of Downtown, as well. Imagine being Downtown and KNOWING that if you have any sort of scare or issue, you can just walk into an LRT station and find Police assistance. Or that if you call them, there are gonna be police officers within a couple of minutes or less from you. Ostensive policing is a big thing in many places for a reason, and I fail to understand why is it that we can't seem to crack the code for this in Edmonton.
Tackling the immediate problem would also give a lot more grace, and time, for the other agents needed to solve the underlying issues to address it, because it could help public perception (especially from those who live isolated in their bubbles, generally in the suburbs) that we are not "soft" on crime, which in turn makes it easier for these people to swallow proper social assistance programs for those they perceive as victims (since we're being "tough" on the bad apples).
