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Crisis workers will be deployed across subway platforms in downtown Toronto beginning later this year in a pilot pushed to improve safety on transit.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow announced on Wednesday that Line 1 platforms from Spadina to Bloor-Yonge station would have crisis workers embedded from November.
“Transit needs to be safe and feel safe. Bringing crisis workers onto the platform as a resource for riders will help us respond to incidents faster and prevent them,” the mayor said in a statement.
“Alongside more visible staff, more frequent service and ongoing partnership with the police, this initiative will help keep people safe. Better safety and better service is how we bring riders back, unclog our roads and get Toronto moving.”
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Data from the City of Toronto shows the number of calls for service relating to safety and offences against riders is broadly at the level it was in January 2023, when concerns about incidents on the system exploded.
Back then, the TTC was struggling with a wave of serious violence, including a stabbing on a streetcar, a 16-year-old stabbed on a bus, and a driver shot with a BB gun.
In January 2023, Toronto police received 160 major crime calls on the TTC. That number sat at 147 last month. There were 2.03 offences against TTC customers per million boards in January 2023, dropping marginally to 1.99 in August.
Through the course of 2024, TTC special constables received 1,028 person in crisis calls, according to the mayor’s office.
TTC CEO Mandeep Lali said the introduction of crisis workers would help to make the transit system safer and more appealing.
“If we want our ridership to grow, we need to make sure everyone feels safe and is safe while riding the TTC,” he said in a statement. “We’re proud to be working closely with the City of Toronto on initiatives that make our transit system safer, more responsive and inclusive.”
Beginning Nov. 15, Toronto Community Crisis Service workers will be stationed at Spadina, Union and Bloor-Yonge subway stations. From there, they’ll be dispatched to calls across the downtown portion of Line 1.
The service will be accessible by calling 211, speaking to TTC staff or using the SafeTTC app.
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