TTC launches support program
Initiative run by trained volunteers aims to help those who witness suicide attempts
Toronto subway riders may soon notice a new presence on station platforms as the TTC attempts to give comfort to passengers affected by tragedy.
Clad in bright yellow smocks and distinctive caps, the teams of highly trained volunteers will be there to assist passengers — not to find their way through the transit system, but to navigate the trauma of seeing someone try to take their life on the tracks.
Despite the TTC achieving some success in confronting the issue, suicide on the subway system remains worryingly common. So far this year, nine people have killed themselves on the transit system and 12 more have tried, according to statistics provided by the TTC.
Between 2015 and 2018, there were an average of about13 fatal attempts and 20 non-fatal attempts per year.
Each incident not only leaves a person killed or injured, but results in bystanders and transit employees struggling with potentially debilitating psychological after-effects.
At Spadina station Tuesday, senior agency officials announced a new program aimed not only at deterring distressed people who may be thinking of killing themselves, but helping riders scarred by the incidents.
“These are desperate acts that really leave us reeling,” said TTC CEO Rick Leary at the event, which coincided with World Suicide Prevention Day.
“It is a horrifying experience for front-line employees, and for (bystanders) who witness this tragedy, and I can tell you we take this very seriously at the TTC.”
As part of the new initiative, volunteers from the Distress Centres of Greater Toronto, a non-profit suicide prevention organization, will be posted at subway stations in the days following a suicide or attempted suicide.
The volunteers, who will be easily recognizable by their outfits, will offer riders emotional support and contacts for counselling services.
The teams will visit stations around the same time of day the incident took place, with the expectation that commuters who witnessed the event might pass through the station at the same time each day.
Kevin Noel, executive director of the Distress Centres of Greater Toronto, said the new effort is an extension of the successful Crisis Link program on which his organization has been partnering with the TTC since 2011. That program connects people with the Distress Centres suicide prevention hotline via a single button on a subway platform pay phone.
“Having help at the subway system is another step to provide immediate assistance to those who need it, when they need it,” he said.
TTC chief safety officer John O’Grady said the agency is trying to respond to an observed need to help passengers left disturbed by seeing someone injured or killed on the tracks.
“Usually on scene there are a number of passengers that will come up to us and ask for support,” he said.
According to O’Grady, the TTC has previously offered riders access to its employee assistance program, but the new initiative will formalize the process for helping traumatized passengers.
O’Grady acknowledged the TTC “thought long and hard” about the fact the volunteers’ presence at a station could alert unsuspecting riders that something terrible had happened there the day before. But, after consulting with experts and examining best practices at other transit agencies, the TTC decided that, on balance, the program would be beneficial.
As part of the new campaign, the TTC has also partnered with the Distress Centres to produce a new poster asking riders to alert a transit agency employee if they see someone exhibiting suicidal behaviour.
O’Grady said signs to look for include a person pacing back and forth near the tunnel opening, lingering on the platform as trains come and go, standing or sitting on the platform edge, and crying or shouting.
In addition to alerting a TTC worker, the agency is asking customers to personally intervene with riders who may be suicidal. O’Grady said evidence indicates even small talk like asking about the previous day’s Blue Jays game can derail a troubled person’s thoughts of self-harm.
“We’re not asking you to be counsellor, we’re just asking you to be a neighbour,” O’Grady said.
The initiative announced Tuesday continues the TTC’s efforts to more openly discuss subway suicides.
While in the past transit officials wouldn’t openly talk about people killing themselves on the system, they now often tell the public when there has been a death on the tracks. The change in tone mirrors a wider societal shift aimed at destigmatizing mental illness.
As part of their prevention messaging, TTC officials emphasize that most suicide attempts on the subway don’t result in a death.