Victims asked to report it
Chair Diane Deans defends commission’s recent silence in wake of Blair Station sex assault
OC Transpo is working on a 10-point safety plan, general manager John Manconi says,
OC Transpo has struggled to identify high-risk areas or common trends when it comes to incidents of assault or harassment, but the organization aims to change that by encouraging more people to report their experiences.
Ottawa’s transit provider wants any victim of harassment to report the information, even anonymously, to Transpo, so staff can build a database that will help identify problem areas in order to improve safety and security, the city’s transit commission heard Wednesday.
The update from Transpo general manager John Manconi came more than a week after police reported a highprofile sexual assault that occurred near Blair Station when four men attacked and robbed a young woman. Transpo had refused to talk publicly about overall safety issues after the incident was reported on Aug. 12 until an update could be provided at the commission meeting when Manconi rolled out a few more details about the proposed 10-point plan being developed over the next few months.
Coun. Diane Deans, the transit commission chair, defended the organization’s silence.
“I wanted to provide the information to everyone at the same time,” she said in an interview.
Manconi said he was not instructed to avoid talking publicly about overall transit safety, but then explained he had to limit the release of information until the update was given.
“She (Deans) wanted to wait to brief the commission on the overall safety and (about) our programs and so forth,” Manconi said. “We had to wait. That’s her choice and that’s the direction we took.”
Community groups such as Hollaback Ottawa, the local chapter of an international organization dedicated to improving street safety, have been waiting for Transpo’s update because of their concerns about transit security.
Even though Manconi and Deans applauded community groups for their feedback, Hollaback director Julie Lalonde says there is still a hostile relationship between her group and the city.
She is disappointed the earliest time Hollaback or any other group can publicly address the commission about their concerns is at the next meeting.
“Most of these ideas will be implemented already, so what kind of input can we provide at that point?” she said.
Manconi said he wants to assure community groups that consultation with them will continue.
Both he and Deans insist safety is the highest priority for Transpo, but they recognize some passengers do not feel safe.
“It’s about infusing safety and security into our culture and the fabric of our organization and the community,” Manconi told the commission in his update.
“Some of the public using our system do not feel safe and we need to do everything possible to work harder to improve this, he said.”
One of the ways to do that is encouraging passengers to report any harassment they experience.
Even if those reports are completed anonymously, Transpo can use the information to identify any patterns.
“What we want to extract from that data is any trends,” he said. “Is it a specific route? Is it a specific location? Is it a specific time of day? And then you start to cater your response and your action to that.”
Manconi also provided a general overview of a 10-point safety plan, which includes creating an inventory of best practices to identify programs that work and those that do not.
Deans also gave a few more details about changes to Transpo’s Night Stop program, which provides one well-lit stop at transit stations and allows passengers to get off at locations closer to their destinations, instead of the regular bus stops. The program will start at 7 p.m. as of Sept. 1, rather than the current 9 p.m., she said.
There are also plans to work with the American Public Transit Association to consider a third-party bestpractices review of safety programs. This strategy would be designed to “identify if there are any gaps in Transpo’s plan,” Deans said.