Public Safety Concerns on Calgary Transit
The safety of passengers on transit in Calgary has become a concerning issue, particularly along the city’s LRT lines. Two recent incidents, a stabbing at the SAIT LRT station in late April 2022 and another incident the first week of May 2022 where a man was assaulted in what the police called an unprovoked attack has increased riders’ concerns.
While the most recent City of Calgary Data (2016) suggests overall that people feel safe (see above), problems have plagued Calgary transit throughout the pandemic (2021). Diving a little deeper into the pre-pandemic numbers (the most recent on record) one can see that time of day a rider takes transit heavily influences a rider’s safety rating:
The safety ratings are positive when it comes to using C-Trains or buses before 6pm, yet there is a significant drop for ridership after 6pm. After 6pm, Calgary transit users feel safer travelling on a bus versus via C-Train, likely due to the relatively close presence of a driver in the event of any perceived safety issues that may arise.
Looking at the after 6pm time frame through a demographic lens offers more detail on who has the most safety concerns:
Males feel significantly safer after 6pm relative to females (oval) while those aged 55+ feel most vulnerable after 6pm relative to those under 55 (rectangle).
While the city of Calgary has not published any numbers newer than the 2016 Data other municipalities have. With decreased ridership NYC saw violent crimes rise sharply with COVID and while ridership has slowly been returning, a beneficial “safety in numbers” effect, supplemented by the legacy of decades of proactive policing, had disappeared. While Calgary is certainly no New York, it may be reasonable to assume a similar trend has been seen by Calgary Transit.
The original problem of overall transit safety for riders can be narrowed down based on the survey results to a time and a demographic:
The Problem: “How can we make female rider’s feel safer taking transit in the evenings?”
The rational in thinking is that a solution to the problem for this smaller demographic group will in turn be a solution for other groups.
Developing the persona of Claire, a University Student who works part time and takes transit and an empathy map for Claire allows one to see the issues at hand through the stakeholder’s lens:
What is the Human Centred Design required of Calgary Transit that will allow for a positive change, reducing a transit riders’ anxiety and fear of taking transit in the evening?
How Might We (HMW) address Claire’s safety concerns when taking transit in the evening? There are different questions we can ask to approach a solution:
Exploring few of these reframed questions. For the respondents of the Calgary 2016 Survey, whether they felt safe or not, the top four reasons for providing a less than perfect score were as follows:
A root cause of feeling unsafe are the types of people that a passenger encounters while taking transit, it comprises of 44 and 40% of the reasons for a less than 10/10 rating.
So:
How might we design a train car, bus, station or stop for a safer female user experience? One possible solution is female only passenger rail car or bus. It’s not an uncommon idea and is or has been implemented in many cities across the globe either for sexual segregation (accepted in some societies) or to reduce sexual harassments and assaults on women:
The idea of female only train cars and buses may be a viable solution, but other questions arise when looking at this solution. Unruly behaviour/shady, sketchy characters are not only male but female, as are intoxicated or high passengers. The cost effectiveness of using such a solution would also need to be analyzed.
How might we prevent unwanted transit users for a safer female user experience? One option, which would sure to be controversial, is the use of facial recognition to identify known perpetrators, that would then be tracked and intercepted by transit authorities. Welcome to “1984”.
How might we constantly monitor all areas for a safer female user experience? Video cameras are ubiquitous in society today. Placing video cameras at identified pain points could potentially offer more security. One question arising from this solution is just how informed the riding public is of such efforts? The City of Calgary 2016 survey showed that while most riders, 86%, were aware of video cameras on C-Train platforms, less than 70% were aware that there were video cameras on C-Train cars and buses. Another question that arises is the effectiveness. Cameras are an attempt to dissuade an individual’s inappropriate behaviour by recording it and having the resources to react to it in a reasonable amount of time. Some may not care if they are being recorded and what is a reasonable amount of time to respond?
A secondary cause for feeling unsafe is the visibility or number of Transit Peace Officers or Police.
How might we increase the number of Transit Peace Officers without raising the cost of transit for a safer female user experience? It’s the age-old problem faced by governments: “How to maintain service levels people demand and expect when no one wants to pay for it?” A review of transit fares across the country shows that Calgary is somewhere in the middle when it comes to fares.
Additional money is allocated to Calgary Transit from property taxes collected. Given the average property tax of $1920 for an average two-story house, 7.11% or $136.5 goes to Calgary Transit.
If the idea of paying for more Peace Officers is not acceptable to the public how might Calgary Transit pair with other stakeholders for a safer female user experience? Stakeholders such as The Calgary Bear Clan Patrol or Calgary DOAP Teams (Downtown Outreach Addictions Partnership) could potentially offer multiple benefits such as ride sharing, how might we create a ride sharing or chaperone service?
The issue of public safety on Calgary Transit is a “wicked” problem, a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. A design thinking process applied to the problem converts it from problem-focused to solution-focused and action oriented. Using both analysis and imagination has allowed the problem to be restated with some solutions given.
References
Career Foundry. (2021, May 6). The Design Thinking Process — An Introduction. YouTube. Retrieved June 12, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvu34s8iMZw&t=277s
City of Calgary. (n.d.). How does Calgary compare to other municipalities? Retrieved June 11, 2022, from https://www.calgary.ca/ca/city-manager/our-finances/financial-facts/compare-municipalities.html#municipal
Enrg Research Group. (2017, June 1). Calgary Transit Safety, Security and Cleanliness Survey — Final report 2016. Calgary.Ca. Retrieved June 11, 2022, from https://www.calgarytransit.com/content/transit/en/home/about-calgary-transit/facts-and-figures/reports-and-surveys.html
Gelinas, N. (2022, March 30). Public Safety on NYC Subways: No Safety in Small Numbers. Www.Manhattan-Institute.Org. Retrieved June 12, 2022, from https://www.manhattan-institute.org/public-safety-nyc-subways-no-safety-small-numbers
Krause, D. (2021, August 2). Calgary Transit deals with COVID-19 rise in social disorder in CTrain. Livewire Calgary. Retrieved June 12, 2022, from https://livewirecalgary.com/2021/02/08/calgary-transit-deals-with-covid-19-rise-in-social-disorder-in-ctrain/
Pringle, J. (2021, November 4). Ottawa one of the most expensive cities in Canada to board public transit. CTV News — Ottawa. Retrieved June 12, 2022, from https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/ottawa-one-of-the-most-expensive-cities-in-canada-to-board-public-transit-1.5651321
Rodriguez, M. (2022, May 5). Calgary police seek suspects in “unprovoked” CTrain platform attack. Calgary Herald. Retrieved June 12, 2022, from https://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/calgary-police-seek-suspects-in-unprovoked-ctrain-platform-attack
Staff Livewire Calgary. (2022, April 29). Six people sought in SAIT LRT attack, stabbing. Livewire Calgary. Retrieved June 12, 2022, from https://livewirecalgary.com/2022/04/29/six-people-sought-in-sait-lrt-attack-stabbing/
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Women-only passenger car. Retrieved June 13, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women-only_passenger_car
