City addresses transit safety fears after latest violence on Edmonton LRT

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City officials tried to reassure Edmontonians Thursday after another high-profile incident of violence on public transit.

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New security measures aren’t currently being rolled out beyond what the city already has planned. But Edmonton Transit Service branch manager Carrie Hotton-MacDonald said she knows people want more action.

“The events that we heard about this week have certainly been very, very alarming and it has escalated plans and our conversations about what comes next.”

Police charged 20-year-old Kendall Raine Wednesday after two violent incidents at LRT stations this week, including a reported assault last Monday where a 78-year-old woman was pushed off the Jubilee Station platform.

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Those reports were the latest in the ongoing safety concerns on transit.

A man was injured in a stabbing at Central LRT Station in March after what police described as an “altercation.” Last year, a University of Alberta student was stabbed while he was getting off a train at University Station. And the city increased security at transit stations a little more than a year ago after several attacks on Muslim women were reported — three happened on transit property.

People who use transit have also complained about harassment or witnessing open drug use while riding the LRT, with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic contributing to increasing disorder.

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Hotton-MacDonald said there are currently 84 peace officers patrolling the transit system, and by July there will be 93. Earlier this year, city council approved additional funding for an effort that pairs up transit peace officers with workers from the Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society .

There will soon be seven of those teams working across the transit system, up from just two, in an effort to help people who may be struggling with mental illness or addictions get access to appropriate resources.

Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said Thursday that violence on transit makes up a very small percentage of the overall incidents across Edmonton, “but that’s no comfort to someone who’s being victimized, no comfort to that woman who got pushed from the platform onto the track.”

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He stressed again that the city can’t adequately address the lack of social supports underlying the crisis without more investment from the provincial government.

“They have not stepped up, so the consequences are more people are causing disturbances on public transit, more people are causing disturbances in the Downtown, in Chinatown, and they’re causing safety issues,” he said.

“At the same time, being hurt and the pain and trauma that they go through — it’s a lack of support in social programs, and support systems, that are causing these concerns.”

Council will hear a more detailed transit safety report at the end of May.

In March, the city closed nearly all of the public washrooms at transit stations in what they said was a move to reduce the risk of drug poisonings in unsupervised areas.

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The decision was roundly criticized by advocates for people living on the streets who rely on the washrooms daily. Harm-reduction workers also said closing the spaces would not cut down on overdoses.

Hotton-MacDonald said Thursday that a plan to reopen the bathrooms has been “expedited” and the city will release more details early next week. She said there will be new “tactics and tools” used to improve safety, but she did n’t elaborate further.

“I understand it’s been a tremendous, tremendous disruption, and very difficult on people who need access to those spaces.”

There’s a further work underway to put specific opioid-response teams on public transit. Police and transit peace officers already carry Naloxone, a medication that can counter the effects of an overdose and save someone’s life.

Hotton-MacDonald added that she uses transit regularly, and she believes the system is safe.

Transit riders who encounter an emergency should call 911 but if they want to report harassment or any other unsafe situation, they can call or text Transit Watch at 780 442 4900.

— With files from Lauren Boothby

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