Toronto residents remain anxious about their safety on the TTC although police and special constables have become increasingly visible throughout the system.
The transit commission also has social workers throughout the system ready to provide help to people in need.
However, the efforts at the moment are not having much of an impact on some riders.
“As someone who’s always been anxious about riding the TTC alone but trying to overcome the anxiety, the recent attacks have only made things worse for me.” Anahita Falahi, a flight attendant and frequent TTC commuter, said.
“I feel so uneasy going to work and possibly not even making it there that I’ve considered not taking the transit at all now and just rely on Ubers or getting a ride from a friend.” Falahi said.
Since mid-January, random acts of violence on public transit have unnerved riders.
In response, Toronto Police have added 80 officers across the system while the TTC says it will make its current contingent of special constables more visible and add 50 special constables this year.
The TTC said it will also deploy more uniformed TTC staff throughout the system, particularly in any “hot spots” and be capable of calling its Transit Control in case of emergencies.
More than 20 members of the city’s Community Safety Team will also be on the system to work directly with people experiencing homelessness.
“We have redeployed many staff and supervisors into our stations to give our customers a better sense of comfort. We are trying to cover as many areas as we can.” said Stuart Green, senior TTC communications specialist.
“We are deploying special constables in a more strategic way to focus on the areas where people have expressed the most concern,” he said.
Stuart said Toronto Police have dozens of officers patrolling stations along with being present on subways and streetcars.
However, even with officers being deployed and extra TTC staff being present, some believe this may not be enough.
“Most of the coverage is on whether the subway is safe, but people forget that there are less popular parts of the transit system like suburban bus stops that don’t get any kind of security,” said Steve Munro, a Toronto transit activist, said.
“If you take 80 officers and spread that over the entire network, the probability that an officer is actually going to be present for an attack is kind of low.” Munro said.
He said that many officers walk in pairs and so do TTC special constables. He is concerned that if these workers are all grouped together, the rest of the city is still vulnerable.
“To have security presents everywhere all the time is mind boggling, in terms of manpower. It’s just not possible,” Munro said.