Montreal Metro's New Safety Plan | CityNews Montreal

Montreal's transit corporation has pledged to increase security at some metro stations by increasing the number of special constables on patrol.

The Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) will deploy special constables and other security personnel in teams of four to monitor 10 stations where riders feel unsafe.

Stations with increased security: Bonaventure, Lionel-Groulx, Atwater, Joliette, Frontenac, Papineau, Beaudry, Jarry, Jean-Talon and Mont Royal.

“The main goal is to increase the sense of security and to react quickly in the event of an incident,” said STM security director Jocelyn Latulippe.

STM says this is in response to the growing number of people online with mental health or addiction issues.

“Most of our problems are related to mental health issues and special constables are trained in these issues, but at the same time it takes a lot of time and we need support for special constables to carry out their regular duties,” he said. Latulpa.

“We now have a situation in our metro area where people recognize that sometimes they don't feel safe,” added Eric Alan Caldwell, the corporation's board president. “We have a safe metro system. Security in our metro is good. By the way, we're not in the same urban environment that we were in before the pandemic.”

Caldwell said the STM is worried about losing riders because of the sense of insecurity associated with the presence of vulnerable people.

Riders CityNews spoke to Wednesday said they are concerned about safety and cleanliness.

“I've seen fights, I've seen a lot of things, I've seen peeing, I've seen defecating,” one man said.

“I've had some friends who don't feel really safe, some tell me the blue line, they don't feel really safe, my girlfriends,” added Nathan Tran.

“It mostly depends on which station,” said another.

Special police officers will work 20 hours a day, seven days a week until the end of April. But it can be extended.

“When the spring temperatures come, when the sun comes back and the temperatures are warm, we know that a lot of our mental health issues are going to decrease,” Latulippe said.

Latulippe says the corporation's goal is to reassure riders, but ultimately more intervention is needed from public health authorities to direct those who need help to the appropriate resources. Otherwise, he says, the metro will remain a revolving door for people who need help but don't get support.

Phone, text line coming to Montreal Metro?

Aref Salem, the leader of the city's official opposition, says the Montreal ensemble would like to see a dedicated phone and chat line like in Toronto.

“At the very least, you can send a text or call and we can make sure we get a response within the next 90 seconds,” he said. “Someone will call back and try to resolve the issue.”

STM says it is already in the process of introducing something similar.

“The dedicated online form … that information is processed as soon as it's received, which wasn't the case before,” Latulippe said. “We've improved the response, but we're still looking at it, planning something else for next year, like a text solution.”

– With Canadian Press files