'What is safety?': Transit users, advocates at town hall call for action following rash of TTC violence

In recent months, Toronto’s transit system has been at the centre of a string of violent – and, at times, seemingly random – crime, prompting increased enforcement and police presence, and leaving some riders questioning their personal safety.

Taking the stage at a Thursday night town hall meeting to discuss safety on the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), outreach worker Lorraine Lam introduced herself as a “big fan of Toronto transit.”

“I am here as a transit rider,” she said at the event organized by transit advocacy group TTCRiders. Lam’s approach to safety, she explained can be framed as four questions:

“Whose safety are we talking about? What is safety? Who's the public that we're talking about? And where do people go?” she asked.

In recent months, Toronto’s transit system has been at the centre of a string of violent – and, at times, seemingly random – crime, prompting increased enforcement and police presence, and leaving some riders questioning their personal safety.

The concerns aren’t unfounded – in the last month, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) notified the public of at least 14 different violent crimes against riders or employees of the system. In the weeks before that, a string of muggings, assaults and a fatal stabbing at a west end station, prompted calls for national action.

Thursday’s town hall, attended by approximately 200 people in-person and on Zoom, included speakers from the Gerstein Crisis Centre, Jane Finch Action Against Poverty, and the Chinese Canadian National Council of Toronto, among others. Representatives for the TTC were not present, and a spokesperson for the agency said it wasn’t approached to be involved.