Calgary Transit relaunch strategy to include security personnel amid safety concerns

According to Calgary Transit, the relaunch strategy will be formalized in the coming weeks and will include investments in safety across the transit network.

Calgary city councillors continue to hear from Calgarians about safety concerns while riding city transit, as Calgary Transit prepares a strategy to bring service back to pre-pandemic levels.

Kelli Erasmus is one of the transit users who has written to city council to express her concerns with the state of the service.

“I pay $112 to ride that train. And I understand there are social issues but I think there’s solutions to those issues, because it’s not safe,” Erasmus told Global News. “I don’t feel like going out with colleagues after work and being on the train past 5:30 p.m. — there’s no way, it’s just not safe.”

Erasmus takes the train as part of her daily commute and has documented several incidents of social disorder that she has encountered while taking Calgary Transit.

“Open drug use on the train — whether it’s crack or weed — open drinking, fighting. People are using it as a place to sleep,” Erasmus said.

Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp said her office receives several calls and emails about safety on transit everyday.

“It’s a lot about the safety and particularly around certain times a day,” Sharp said. “We’ve noticed that the trend happens to be first thing in the morning or a little bit later at night.”

Following a joint funding commitment from the province and federal government of $82 million to cover revenue shortfalls from a lack of ridership during the pandemic, Calgary Transit officials are working on a relaunch strategy with the goal of bringing back riders to the transit system.