Transit-safety improvements pass first hurdle

City council's public works committee has approved a package of transit-safety improvements that includea driver-shield pilot project, a video-surveillance system expansionanda small private security force.

Public works voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the transit-safety plan, which wastriggered by the February killing of driver Irvine Jubal Fraserand subsequent calls by the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 for improved worker safety.

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Theplan includes four measures the city could take this year to improve safety; four others will be referred tothe 2018 budget process.

If approved byexecutive policy committee and council in June, this year Winnipeg Transit would test out safety barriers, launch a program to encourage customers to report safety problems, improve reporting of incidents to police and create a transit advisory committee to review how the service operates.

Next year, the city would spend up to $710,000 to hire five full-time security staff, create new positions called "point duty officers," expand its surveillancesystem andhire one more instructor to train drivers to defuse conflict along with three drivers to allow the training to happen.

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Thepresident of the Winnipeg Association of Public Service Officers, the union representing transit supervisors, told the committee transit supervisors were not consulted about the proposed changes.

Winnipeg Association of Public Service Officerspresident Michael Robinson, a city planner, urged the committee to hold off on approving the report until supervisors are consulted.

JohnCallahan, the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, which represents transit workers, urged the committee to implement the report as soon as possible.

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After the vote, Robinson said while he supports the safety improvements, transit supervisors work in dangerous conditions, especially at night, without adequate support. It's common for only two supervisors to work on the same shift, each of them alone, he said.

He also said there are many "dead spots" where supervisors' radios do not work.

"The transit supervisors, just like the transit officers, are on the front lines. Every day, they're dealing with unruly passengers, drunk passengers, high passengers. They put themselves in very dangerous situations and they would like to offer their perspectives," Robinson said.