Calgary says riders feel safer on public transit

Calgary residents say they feel safer in and around the public transit system now than they did six months ago.

According to the city, it has been conducted three times in the last two years to survey Calgary's prospects with a focus on safety.

The data is collected from 500 randomly selected Calgarians, according to the city, and includes topics about perceptions of safety in the city, including their own community, downtown and Calgary Transit.

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, according to the city, the percentage of people who say they feel safe waiting at a CTrain station during the day is high (70 percent in November, 64 percent 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.”

Some Calgarians continue to avoid taking the bus or CTrain due to safety concerns (49%), which is relatively consistent with information collected in May 2023, which showed 47 percent of respondents avoided taking public transit due to safety concerns.

Three-quarters of Calgarians say they feel safer using transit buses than riding the CTrain.

Despite this, 71 per cent of those surveyed believe Calgary is a safe city overall – 75 per cent at night and 40 per cent of Calgarians believe Calgary is safer compared to other major Canadian cities.

The city attributes this to investments in transit public safety, which have allowed it to hire more peace officers, improve station cleaning, improve infrastructure and increase partner patrols.

Additional funding was also approved to hire transit community peace officers and hire security guards.

According to the city, Calgary Transit Ambassador Teams have joined to help find the route and give riders a visible presence.

Calgary Council also approved a Public Transportation Safety Strategy in October 2023.

The number of reported incidents of social disorder (such as verbal fights/abuses, open drug use, overdoses and drug poisoning) on ​​public transport has decreased.

Between October 1 and December 15, 2023, the city says a total of 3,450 incidents of social disorder were reported, compared to 4,146 reported incidents between October 1 and December 15, 2022.

Public transport was also used to support the city's most vulnerable groups during the bitter cold, according to the city. As part of a collaborative community winter emergency response, shuttles ran seven days a week to transport people living along the LRT line to affordable housing.

Since December 1, 1,024 vehicles have been sent to emergency shelters from LRT stations.