Severity of crime on transit decreasing, report shows
Incidents of nuisance, disorder and vandalism are decreasing on Edmonton transit as ridership increases, according to a new report by city staff.
As part of the city's enhanced transit safety plan, city administration provided a quarterly report to city council on Wednesday detailing new plans to promote safety on transit and provide statistics on transit violence and ridership details.
Carrie Hotton- MacDonald, branch manager of the Edmonton Transit System, said the city is tracking non-criminal incidents on transit, which include nuisance and disorder, graffiti and vandalism, and any reported medical incidents. She said ridership is up 27 per cent in 2023 compared to 2022.
“What all of that means is there's more people using the service, which means more reporting and more eyes on the system, and this is very helpful for future context,” Hotton-MacDonald said.
The average crime severity index on transit decreased 11 per cent between 2022 and 2023. The average non-violent severity index for LRT and transit centres decreased from 2022 to 2023 by two per cent.
According to city staff, non-criminal incidents are down to 1,963 as of last January, compared to 2,192 incidents in December 2023. The percentage of non-criminal incidents of the total ridership last January was 0.045 per cent compared to 0.05 per cent in December 2023.
Hotton-MacDonald said there has been more off-peak and weekend usage for bus services and “very busy” crosstown routes. She attributed this to the revised bus network, which included more direct crosstown and weekend service thanks to investments by the city. More recently, ETS added more off-peak service last fall and more hours in February, which is generating more ridership.
Hotton-MacDonald said transit rider research into the perception of safety on transit showed that 63 per cent of respondents reported feeling safe throughout their trip — the same percentage as in 2022.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said the transit safety report he heard on
Wednesday was “promising.”
“We are changing interactive transit, there are incremental improvements to safety and people's experience related to transit, but we have a long way to go. A lot of (people) don't feel safe getting on transit,” Sohi said.
“But I think the investments we have made and the partnership that we have been able to forge with the Edmonton Police Service, the province and the federal government on investment and social infrastructure are giving me the hope that we are trending in the right direction.”
The city's plans to improve transit safety with several projects under the Alberta transit system clean-up grant, including enhanced cleaning, replacing transit centre doors, and adding new security cameras. Improving public perceptions of safety will also include enhancing cellular connectivity and Wi-Fi in stations.