Edmonton city councillors want to know if the security measures at the city's transit centres are working.

At an urban planning committee on Tuesday, a motion passed to request a report on the effectiveness of current security measures at transit stations and the use of transit security guards and peace officers.

City staff will prepare and present a report in about six weeks.

The committee discussed administration's response to a COVID-19 safety and transit report, but some councillors had questions about security concerns, especially the recent string of attacks and threats against Muslim women at transit stations.

On Thursday, the city announced news efforts to enhance transit security. Additional transit peace officers and Edmonton Police Service officers have been patrolling the transit system, based on data analytics. That monitoring is expected to continue over the next couple of months.

Extra security guards have also been bought in to select transit facilities to provide surveillance and support.

Coun. Andrew Knack said he has heard from Edmontonians who feel that the use of security guards at transit stations isn't as effective as having transit peace officers or EPS officers.

"I have heard quite a number of people express concerns around the right allocation of security resources and what's providing them the best value to feel truly safe when people are in our transit centres," Knack said.

Carrie Hotton-MacDonald, branch manager of Edmonton Transit Service, said the use of security guards at stations has led to emergency support for people in mental distress.

"They have a direct line to our control centre, which then enables us to dispatch emergency resources to the specific situation," Hotton-MacDonald said. "They do surveillance and patrolling, they provide support to anyone that's in the facility."

She said overall reports to the control centre have increased by about 35 per cent as a result of having security guards. There has also been a decrease in vandalism and graffiti.

Mayor Don Iveson said he presented the motion after many questions rose around the effectiveness of enhanced security measures.

"I think we have resources deployed today, and people who are working very hard on the city's behalf over a very spread-out system using the best of intelligence to deploy people to trouble spots," Iveson said.

"That's why reporting of issues is so critical from our public, to aid in that deployment of resources."

Iveson said he wants to hear more about ways that security resources may be used to assist vulnerable people using transit stations and connecting them with available supports and services.