City working to get Edmonton transit system back on track

The City of Edmonton is working to make its public transit system safer following recent violence and disorder that has shaken riders.

A shocking scene greeted people who boarded the LRT at Churchill Station late Wednesday afternoon: a mallet laid on one of the seats, along with a jar of peanut butter, a loaf of bread and a popsicle melting on the floor. 

A huge mound of clothes and a dirty backpack were on the floor. A Naloxone kit sat on an adjacent seat. 

"I was pretty disturbed to see that kind of disorder on the LRT train," said Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, with whom CBC News shared photos of the scene.

Carrie Hotton-MacDonald, Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) branch manager, had a similar reaction.

"I was infuriated," Hotton-MacDonald told CBC News. "It makes it very, very difficult for riders to use the service when they see those things and when this is happening."  

The scene depicted in the photographs is definitely not the norm, she said.

"It's a very stark reminder to me that people are using LRT as shelter and are in need of better supports." 

Sohi believes disorder on transit is a symptom of larger issues related to affordable housing and mental health, for which he blamed the Alberta government.

"As a municipality, we're picking up the pieces of the consequences of the lack of investment from the provincial government," he said.

Providing mental health supports, as well as ending homelessness and the drug poisoning crisis, are provincial jurisdiction, he added.

Rob Williams, press secretary for the minister of transportation, said in an email statement that budget 2022 maintained funding for homeless shelters on top of an annual $29 million a year to Homeward Trust Edmonton for programming, including supportive housing.

The province has also made significant investments in providing treatment to people with addictions and given police tools to connect people to treatment, he said.

"We view the police as part of the solution to the public safety concerns being shared by Edmontonians. Public safety is a responsibility of the city, and it should be funded appropriately by the Mayor and council."