TTC drivers urge governments to better support homeless
Amid COVID closings, more people are sleeping, keeping warm on transit
TTC operators are urging the government to provide more support to homeless people who have been seeking refuge on the transit system during the COVID-19 crisis.
Since the start of the pandemic last spring, TTC drivers have reported an increase in homeless riders as overall transit use plummets and places where vulnerable residents normally spend their time remain shuttered.
In a petition to the city, provincial and federal governments, a group of transit operators is calling for more outreach workers to be deployed on the TTC to offer shelter referrals, harm reduction support and other assistance. The petition also asks government to create “a mass program of high quality social housing to address the homelessness crisis.”
Bus operator Jason Watts, who supports the grassroots petition, said drivers like him want a “holistic” rather than a “punitive” response.
The 12-year TTC veteran said he wants to avoid situations like one he experienced when he was driving the 86 Scarborough route last August. Early in his shift, a passenger complained about a man who had taken off his shoes and was sleeping on the seats. The man declined to leave when Watts asked him to, so he alerted transit control. Control called the police and the man left the bus, but he got into a physical confrontation with the officers outside the vehicle and they arrested him.
Watts said outcomes like that aren’t desirable for anyone involved. “We don’t want to see the police or whoever else grab these people off a vehicle,” he said.
“We understand that these people are dealing with issues that we can’t imagine.”
In addition to potential conflicts between transit employees and marginalized riders, the petition cites concerns such as people sheltering on vehicles using drugs, turning seats into “makeshift bedrooms,” going to the bathroom and experiencing mental health crises.
“As public transit workers we are compassionate individuals, but at the end of the day, we are not social workers,” the petition reads. “We demand that all levels of government mobilize the resources to solve this crisis immediately.”
Roxie Danielson of the Street Nurse Network said many of those in Toronto experiencing homelessness have been forced outside during the pandemic because places where they normally take refuge like libraries or coffee shops are no longer open.
The shelter system houses 6,000 people a night but is at capacity — in recent weeks occupancy at men’s facilities was at 99.9 per cent — and many won’t stay in city shelters out of fear of catching COVID-19, especially now that variants of concern have been identified at some sites.
“As it stands right now it’s so difficult to get somebody a safe place to stay, so the TTC really is the next best option (for many),” Danielson said.
She acknowledged people experiencing homelessness can pose challenges for TTC employees, especially if they aren’t trained to deal with someone who is in crisis or using drugs. But she said homeless residents shouldn’t be blamed for seeking out one of the few remaining safe spaces in the city.
“I place the blame squarely on our government. Had we had enough funding for more housing, for more mental health and addiction supports, then this wouldn’t be happening,” she said.
“Nobody should have to sleep on the TTC because they can’t get a bed somewhere.”
The city and the TTC say they’ve increased their homelessness response during the pandemic. Since April, transit constables have been patrolling the system with outreach workers from the city’s Streets to Homes program to offer harm reduction supplies, housing support, food vouchers and other services. Just two teams of two constables each are involved in the program, however, and their ability to cover the entire transit system is limited.
TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said homeless people are “not inherently a threat” and “we are sympathetic to those with nowhere else to go.”
“Throughout the pandemic we are enhancing opportunities to assist those who may need it while exercising discretion to assess every situation independently,” he said.
City spokesperson Kris Scheuer said during the COVID-19 crisis, the shelter support and housing administration has opened more than 40 temporary facilities to allow for social distancing in shelters, and this winter is opening an additional 680 spaces through a combination of hotel rooms, supportive housing units, and shelter and 24-hour respite beds.
Since the start of 2020, the city has secured permanent housing for more than 3,220 people who were in shelters.
The Streets to Homes team and partner agencies also moved more than 1,300 people from encampments to indoor spaces since the start of the pandemic.
Carlos Santos, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, which represents most TTC employees, said the union is “sympathetic” to vulnerable people using the system during the pandemic, but the city “must do more to help homeless people find suitable shelter.”