Perceptions of Calgary transit safety are improving, a new survey shows

After targeted investments by the Council, Calgary residents say they feel safer in and around Calgary's transit system than they did six months ago, according to the City of Calgary's Prospective Safety Survey.

Seventy-two percent of those surveyed said they feel safe riding the CTrain during the day, up from 67 percent in May 2023, when the survey was last conducted. Also, the percentage of people who say they feel safe waiting at a CTrain station during the day (64 percent in May compared to 70 percent in November).

The survey results also show an increase in those who feel safe riding the CTrain after dark (39% in November vs. 33% in May) and waiting for the CTrain after dark (34% vs. 27% in November). in May).

“Calgarians want and deserve the best and safest experience using our transit system, whether on the LRT, buses or shuttles,” said Kay Choi, Chief of Public Safety and Welfare for the City of Calgary. “I'm encouraged to see that we've been able to move the needle safely, and I know there's still a long way to go to help Calgarians feel safer on and around CTrains.”

When it comes to people feeling safe using the transit system, Calgarians continue to say they avoid taking the bus or CTrain because of safety concerns (49%). This statistic was relatively equal to the figures collected in May 2023 (47 percent). Notably, Calgarians say they feel safer using our transit buses than riding the CTrain (75%).

The results of the same survey showed that 71 percent of respondents agreed that Calgary is generally a safe city. Specifically, 95 percent feel safe walking alone in public during the day; At night, 75 percent and two-fifths (40 percent) of Calgarians say Calgary is “safer” compared to other major Canadian cities.

“With an annual investment of $15 million, Council has seen progress in improving transit safety,” said Mayor Jyoti Gondek. “We will continue to work together with our community and law enforcement partners to address safety issues in our growing city.”

In June 2023, the Council approved $8.7 million in one-time funding to add 39 peace officers to the Transit Public Safety Team. Peace officers recruited through this recruitment program have increased the frequency of public interactions with officers and improved the visibility of uniformed officers in the transit system. The investment has also been used to improve station cleaning, improve infrastructure and conduct more frequent partner patrols. This funding was in addition to $5.9 million in emergency funding Approved by the council in July 2022, it was used to hire 28 transit community peace officers and hire 31 security guards to patrol the transit system and provide customer service. A group of six Calgary Transit Ambassadors have joined to help find the way and provide a visible presence for riders.

In October 2023, the City Council approved a public transport safety strategy. The City has developed a Strategy based on recommendations from the Canadian Urban Transit Alliance to help eliminate social disorder and reduce the number of incidents in Calgary's transit system. In November 2023, during budget amendments to the city's service plans and budgets, the city council voted to implement one-time funding of $15 million annually and $2 million in 2024 for the public safety priority area.

“Council's continued focus and investment in public safety will help keep us moving in the right direction,” said David Duckworth, the city's chief administrative officer. “Security is the main issue for the city. We're focused on making sure Calgary remains one of the most livable cities and has a safe, reliable and convenient transit system that people want to use.

In addition to accepting a safety trend in the right direction, the number of reported incidents involving social disorder (ie, verbal fights/bullying, open drug use, overdoses/drug poisoning) on ​​CTrains has also decreased. A total of 3,450 incidents of social unrest were reported between October 1 and December 15, 2023, compared to 4,146 incidents reported between October 1 and December 15, 2022.

“It's all about coordinated community winter action with our partners, like the Calgary Homeless Foundation and the Calgary Police Service,” says Choi. “Collections at transit stations are down about 56 percent this winter from last winter, even with the very cold weather we just experienced.”

As part of Calgary's coordinated community winter emergency response, the city has provided additional support for an emergency shelter vehicle.. Thanks to the additional support, the shuttle was able to expand its operation to operate seven days a week, instead of only operating in cold weather (-20 degrees Celsius). The shuttle began full operation on Dec. 1, providing evacuation shelters to empty shelters on the LRT line between 10:30 p.m. and 4 a.m. every day. Since December 1, 1,024 vehicles have been sent to emergency shelters from LRT stations.

Making our transit network a safe place to ride is a shared responsibility among government partners, law enforcement, social sector agencies and riders. Working together, we can make Calgary's transit system the safest and most preferred mode of transportation possible.

With a focus on safety, the Calgary Outlook Survey has been held three times in the past two years: July 19-28, 2022; May 16-26, 2023; and the latest, November 13-23, 2023. The survey, which collects information from 500 randomly selected Calgarians, covers topics related to perceptions of safety in Calgary, including their community, downtown and Calgary Transit. As a random and representative survey, it has a margin of error ± 4.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The next survey will be held in the spring of 2024.