Transit workers across the country have seen an increase in violent attacks both towards them and on transit, a trend that concerns the union that represents the City of Regina’s transit workers.
Darcy Kluge, the President of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 588, said that transit should be safe for workers and passengers.
“Our members are very concerned with the increase of abuse to transit operators. To have to worry about being verbally, physically or even sexually assaulted when you are just doing your job should be unacceptable,” he said. “But not only that, this impacts the transit users as well.”
Violence on transit has captured national attention in recent weeks following a 17-year-old boy was fatally stabbed on a Vancouver-area bus last week; a man had life-threatening injuries after his throat was slashed on a Surrey, B.C., bus earlier this month, and a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack at a Toronto subway station in March.
While non-of-those were directed toward transit workers, Kluge said that improved safety and workers must be prioritized.
“To improve safety, we need to take an approach that not only looks at the safety of the operator but includes transit users as well,” he said. “Things like increased enforcement, better education and working with the community should be considered. We need support from our employer to look at the increased incidents and work together that can find solutions to help reduce and hopefully eliminate incidents. We are always open to discussions on improving our members’ safety.”
He added that they are aware of 10 incidents involving transit workers in 2023. In 2022, they were just eight
Kluge said that members had experienced physical assault to the operators, punching and being spit on, daily verbal assaults, robbery, fighting between passengers, and an incident just last month where a passenger had brought a gun onto the bus.
On Monday, the Canadian Urban Transit Association published a list of recommendations to respond to recent violent attacks on public transit.
The association made 27 recommendations to improve rider and staff safety on public transit, including a demand to hire more on-the-ground peace officers, special constables, and police officers.
“It’s obvious, I think, to Canadians that we’ve got to address this issue,” said association president Marco D’Angelo.
He said the federal government should also amend the Criminal Code to include specific offences against all transit workers, not just transit operators.
The recommendations emphasized that public transit systems reflect the communities they serve and that issues such as homelessness, substance use, and mental health impact transit systems when left unaddressed.
The Canadian Urban Transit Association began its report on how to improve public safety last summer, but the desire to do something has only been heightened by more violent attacks on transit over the winter in multiple cities.
