2023 TRANSIT SAFETY UPDATE

Edmonton's transit system has seen some incredible successes in recent months. Bus boardings have now exceeded pre-pandemic levels - almost unheard of across most of the country. Every week, well over one million bus and LRT trips are taken and in the vast, vast majority of these cases, riders get safely from point A to B.

But there are still too many occasions where people are feeling uncomfortable or are unsafe while on transit. Transit safety continues to be top of mind for me and my colleagues on City Council, and City staff.

Last spring, I shared a blog on a range of initiatives that Council had taken to tackle safety on transit. Since that time, we have taken many other steps and I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on those actions.  

One of the biggest moves we made in October was to bring a Director of Transit Safety on board, seconded from Edmonton Police Service to better coordinate our safety response on transit. This has enabled closer coordination and collaboration between police, peace officers, and social service agencies working in transit. During our December budget deliberations, we also added additional resources for transit security. As a result, in 2023, we’ll see a 20% increase in the number of Transit Peace Officers in transit spaces by this fall.   

Through our budget, we provided further resources to expand the successful Community Outreach Transit Teams that help to both provide more eyes in stations and connection for people in need of social services. EPS's budget also increased from $407m to $414m this year. The recent announcement of police officers funded by the Province will complement this work by reversing previous cuts to police funding from the province that occurred in 2020 and strengthening our enforcement response in transit. 

Another initiative to create safer transit spaces is the City’s bystander awareness campaign that was launched in early April.  The campaign  empowers and educates bystanders about actions they can take to intervene in a way that is safe for them and for the individual being targeted. The City also has an active working group underway to improve coordination of security and cleanliness throughout the LRT and pedway system, which is currently managed by dozens of separate businesses and property owners. 

Most recently in April, Council provided direction for City staff to return on a monthly basis to provide an update on Downtown and transit safety. We had a preview of what these could be like on the May 1st Community and Public Services committee where we had the chance to hear from City staff and our partners at EPS and the Edmonton Police Commission. This regular touch point is an opportunity to affirm the importance of coordinated safety initiatives and to understand how action and collaboration are helping to keep our communities safe. 

While I think these are the right actions on transit safety, I recognize we have more work to do for all transit users to feel safe and confident using the system. One of the challenges we're facing is that many of the perception and safety issues on the LRT are driven by the housing, drug poisoning, and mental health crises we see playing out in our communities. It will be challenging to fully resolve safety concerns on transit without addressing these root causes.

The City has invested significantly in responding to underlying challenges, including $18m annually for housing and homelessness programs, as well as capital funding for affordable housing construction that will reach $91 million by 2026. We have also funded REACH Crisis Diversion with $13m over the next four years to allow them to expand their capacity to respond to non-criminal events. Just this month, Committee voted to request Administration to bring back to the next Council meeting funding agreements to fund additional day service capacity delivered by Boyle Street Community Services and the Bissell Centre. If Council approves those agreements, the City will invest $4.08 million to ensure these spaces are provided through next winter, reducing the need for people to take shelter in transit spaces.

But there are limits to what we can do on our own. For example, Council approved over $7m to provide 200 temporary shelter spaces as an emergency measure this winter, but we can't reasonably afford to fill the gap that exists on an ongoing basis, with roughly 2,800 Edmontonians experiencing homelessness and only 627 permanently funded shelter beds from the Province (compared to 1,800 in Calgary). We also funded a municipal drug poisoning response to coordinate on-the-ground efforts in our community, but the City doesn't have the authority or expertise to set up health care centers, safe consumption sites, or treatment centres. 

This is why it is critical that we work in collaboration with other orders of government who can support these efforts. Making housing and mental health front and center in the upcoming election is a great way you can help support solutions for safety in transit. Learn more about how you can advocate on these important issues in Ask About Edmonton and be sure to read City Council’s letter to all Candidates to see what we're asking for directly.

Regardless of the outcome of the election and what the Province brings to the table, City Council will continue taking action to invest and champion the security efforts outlined in the Transit Safety Plan to make transit safer for everyone. Thank you to all the transit users who have reached out to me with their concerns and ideas for improvement, and for the thousands who chose to take ETS each and every day.