The City of Edmonton has laid out plans to improve safety and security at transit centres, after a bus driver was stabbed multiple times early Wednesday morning.
Gord Cebryk, the city’s deputy manager of operations, said newly-purchased buses will be equipped with enhanced security devices.
“This includes many different technologies such as cameras on our buses and tools like transit shields for our operators.”
He also outlined future plans to advance training for transit operators. Cebryk said the goal is to teach operators how to de-escalate potentially dangerous situations.
“We want them not to engage. We want them to understand what the options are in terms of recognizing what a situation could become as oppose to having them respond, “ Cebryk explained.
The city said it’s important to explore its options in improving transit safety but the city is reminding citizens that transit is safe.
Cebryk said roughly 87 million trips are recorded annually, but only a very small percentage of those trips result to an incident.
A 15-year-old boy has been charged after he allegedly stabbed a bus driver several times in Mill Woods early Wednesday morning.
Earlier this month, a 24-year-old man was charged after a 19-year-old student was stabbed on the South Campus LRT Station platform.
“These are two serious critical incidents that happened very close together. To me, that doesn't indicate a crime spree in relation to transit,” EPS Insp. Derek McIntyre said.
The city will look at its options in deploying more peace officers at transit stations during budget discussions this fall.
With files from Jeremy Thompson
