Despite record ridership, many Edmontonians still don't think transit is safe, report shows
Ridership reached a new record of 61.6 million completed trips
While more Edmontonians are taking transit than ever before, a new report from city administration shows that many people still don't think it's safe.
Data from Edmonton police shows the average crime severity at LRT stations and transit centres decreased by six per cent in 2024.
But that's not translating to riders.
University of Alberta and MacEwan University student Max Dublenko is one of those riders.
"Every time I come here, there's something to see ... and it seems to just be getting worse every day," Dublenko told CBC about his experience using the LRT from the MacEwan station.
Dublenko and other riders who spoke to CBC noted discomfort when it came to encountering people struggling with mental health issues, homelessness and substance use in and around the transit system.
The Edmonton Transit Service Advisory Board presented findings about the perception of safety on transit to councillors during last Tuesday's urban planning committee meeting.
WATCH | A lag in perception of safety while taking transit
When asked by the city in an online survey in 2024, about 61 per cent of respondents said they felt safe using transit, which is similar to the results from 2023, which saw 60 per cent say they felt safe.
The board said there is a difference between the perception of safety and actual safety.
"When researchers ask people about the things that make them feel frightened or unsafe, people tend to focus on signs of disarray or disorder, such as trash, broken windows, physical indications like that, as opposed to focusing on actual crime, such as theft or robbery," said board chair Emily Batty.
Temitope Oriola, a criminology professor at the University of Alberta, said there is a difference between perception and reality when it comes to safety.
"While perceptions of safety are deeply personal, such perceptions are neither formed nor sustained in a social vacuum," said Oriola.
"Whenever we have a reasonable socio-scientific evidence around these things, I generally welcome them. There may be a source of debate, there may be a source of further conversations, but it at least provides a platform to get a sense of what's going on."
Social media also plays a role in perception with the board conducting a social media scan to determine what Edmontonians are saying about the safety of taking transit.
"Obviously, social media needs to be taken with a grain of salt, and may not always represent the reality of situations, but it is a very valuable tool to understand perception," Batty said.
"So while someone might exaggerate what actually happened, their social media post is still going to represent their feelings and their perception of those events."
It also noted that media reporting of several incidents in which people were assaulted or killed at Edmonton transit centres could also play a role in influencing perception by highlighting exceptional incidents of violence.
"It's not that dangerous, but when you hear stories about violence and other stuff, it's pretty scary," university student rider Sukjeet Sekhon told CBC.
The board found factors that affected perception of safety included cleanliness, environmental design of transit stations, how easily someone was able to connect with others like security, surveillance and whether transit centres are busy.
"Some of the stations are underground. You have long stairwells and restricted spaces, so there's only so much you can do with that. Environmental design, feelings of isolation or lack of connectivity, basically being unable to reach the people that you want to reach," Batty said.
In January, the city finalized a 30-year deal with Telus to bring cell service for all LRT tunnels and stations by spring 2026.
Increasing ridership
Administration credited growing ridership to the Enhanced Transit Safety Plan which was put forward by council in 2022.
The plan involves collaboration between the City of Edmonton, Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society and the Edmonton Police Service to patrol transit centres. In 2024, ridership reached a new record of 61.6 million completed trips, growing by 15 per cent compared to 2023 and by 12 per cent compared to 2019 levels.
Coun. Michael Janz, who sits on council's urban planning committee, told CBC there needs to be targeted investments.
"Our population is growing, but funding for transit hasn't been keeping up, and it's one thing, if you're standing at a bus stop and you feel unsafe, but the bus isn't coming for half an hour," Janz said.
"It's another thing, if you're standing at a bus stop and you know the next bus is coming in five minutes. So we know that frequency improves safety."
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said there are other ways the city could invest money that may help the issues on transit.
"The challenges of our cities facing a very complex we have crisis of houselessness, we have a crisis of mental health and addictions and those that require interventions that are beyond the capacity and the control of the city," he said.
"We are committed to doing more, so investing in the root causes and upstream investment that we can make, to ensure people are able to have a decent place [and] don't have to hang out at LRT stations if they have no other place to go."
Arthur Green, a spokesperson for the provincial Public Safety and Emergency Services ministry, told CBC the government has spent millions to help make transit safer.
"Alberta's government is providing Edmonton with close to $9 million annually to support the recruitment, training and deployment of 50 additional police officers to patrol high-crime areas, including the transit system," wrote Green, in a statement to CBC. "Alberta's government also provided Edmonton with a $5 million grant to help keep transit stations and vehicles clean, safe and welcoming for law-abiding residents.
"We are also working with municipalities to align their community peace officer programs with their local police service to ensure better coordination and an increased law enforcement presence to help deter crime and social disorder in our communities."
During last Tuesday's committee meeting, administration also presented a report looking at how to make more bus routes in the city more frequent and efficient.
On March 18, city council will review additional options provided by administration to enhance safety on the LRT.
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