Is TTC Safe Anymore?

March 7, 2008 - With stories of recent TTC muggings on our subway system all over the news, it really makes you wonder if it's safe to ride the subway anymore. The latest crime wave see teenage gang members corner passengers during the afternoon rush hour and rob them of their metropass, cash, ipod, cell phone, and even their blackberrys. The fact that this happens during the busiest time of the day is outrageous and you have to think whether the TTC is doing enough.

In my opinion though, I think crime in public space is unavoidable. There will always be mugging on our streets, in our parks, and on our transit systems. Passengers of course, need to be more vigilant (please tell those rich Asian girls to stop yapping on their million dollar cell phones in public). But can the TTC do more? The CCTV cameras won't come until 2011 (can someone please tell me why it will take so long?), so what other alternatives do the TTC have?

What about those TTC constables? perhaps there needs to be more of them to patrol our stations, our stairways, and maybe even ride our subway cars. Another problem is often, on a train, when a problem occurs, the train pulls into the station and lets passengers off - this then allows the attackers to flee - and by the time the constables reach there, everyone is gone.

It's quite shocking that it has taken this long for the TTC to install cameras at our stations and on our trains and buses. You would think that after Sept 11 and the transit bombings in London and Mardid, the cameras would be up right away. Yeah, the lack of government funding is a problem, but didn't the federal government provide transit security funding? and wouldn't this be more of a priority for the millions of GTAers who ride transit every day? Just a thought...