Halifax Transit asks for new safety officers amid rising violence

Halifax is looking at a new transit program that would see safety officers hired to ride buses and ferries, in the wake of a growing number of violent incidents.

Staff presented the proposed Halifax transit safety program to the city's transportation standing committee Thursday

"As a fast-growing city we face challenges that weren't there even a few years ago," said Phillip Herritt, director of transit operations for Halifax Transit.

According to a staff report, transit incidents have increased by 107 per cent over the past four years, and the severity of cases is also rising. Herritt said transit is averaging about 250 calls about safety concerns each month, and expects to hit more than 3,000 by the end of the year.

From this May to September alone, there were 258 verbal and 75 physical assaults reported, 22 involving weapon threats, and 138 incidents had police involvement.

Many councillors said they often hear of transit safety concerns, especially around high-incident locations like the Mumford, Lacewood and Bridge terminals. 

Coun. Shawn Cleary said women have told him they avoid going to the Mumford bus terminal on their own, while Coun. Trish Purdy said she had a bad experience at Dartmouth's Alderney Landing.

"Just verbally accosted by someone … I'm not taking the ferry at night, I'm not going to put myself in that situation ever again," Purdy said during the meeting.

Plan includes 18 safety officers

The report recommends hiring a mix of three temporary and permanent staff to build the safety program, and to look at what other Canadian cities are doing.

Eventually another 28 positions would be hired, with the bulk of those positions being 18 traffic safety officers. They would ride the buses and ferries to be a visible deterrent, and step in when incidents happen.

"They're not police officers, but they're that missing grey I've spoke about, in-between what our service supervisors do, and what police do," said Dave Reage, executive director of Halifax Transit.

"It is a major change to the way we do business."

The report said the first three staff would cost about $919,000 over the next four years, with the full 28 positions to carry out the plan running more than $8 million over the same time.

Coun. Waye Mason said implementing the plan is similar to facing higher costs for gas "and we gotta pay for it."

"Obviously we have to do it, our employees have to be safe," Mason said.

The committee moved the plan ahead to regional council which will soon consider the initial staff costs in the upcoming 2024-25 budget.

Transit has already taken some immediate steps to tackle the violence, including a new bylaw which passed in August. It set out rules for unacceptable behaviour on transit and allows officials to suspend offenders from using the system. It bans interfering with the operation of a vehicle and bringing a dangerous substance or weapon onboard.

Four new supervisors for the most problematic terminals will start in the next few weeks, and Herritt said new protective barriers for drivers are expected next spring.