Calgary Transit Bus (Photo credit - Keith Driver)
Calgary transit users might be seeing some changes coming to the system as a new safety strategy was approved by city council.
On October 17, 2023, Calgary City Council approved to address the many concerns about public safety around Calgary’s transit LRT and bus terminals.
A major element to the new strategy will be an improved collaboration between Transit Peace Officers, Security Guards, Community Outreach Teams, and Calgary Police Service.
The city will be setting up safety hubs that will be split into distracts that will allow transit officials to respond within 10-minutes along with future hubs planed for the future LRT/transit routes as the city expands with the green line.
A model of the district system can be seen below:
(Photo source City of Calgary) Photo of Public Transit Safety district model
The Public Transit Safety Strategy also includes:
- An integrated response between Calgary Police Service and Transit Peace Officers, who will be strategically stationed along the transit line, resulting in quicker response time to calls for service.
- An increase in the number of Transit Peace Officers on the transit system.
- Enhanced authorities for Transit Peace Officers to respond to safety incidents within a targeted response time.
- Coordinated dispatch of calls of services through Calgary 9-1-1.
- Improved station experiences for riders through standards of cleanliness and community engagement that focuses on building positive environments.
- Measures to ensure transit is used for its intended purpose of getting Calgarians where they need to be.
- Measures to help connect Calgarians experiencing vulnerabilities on and around the transit system to supportive resources.
The new strategy will come with a $15-million-dollar price tag that is subject to council’s approval during budget adjustments in November of 2023.
Meanwhile City Council did approve a one-time operational budget of $8.7 million dollars back in June 2023 that has been moving towards a integrated customer and safety service model.
To learn more about the Public Transit Safety Strategy visit the City of Calgary website.
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