The City of Saskatoon has announced several initiatives to provide a safer environment for employees and transit users when riding the bus. Since May there have been four incidents involving Saskatoon Transit including three men fighting on a bus, a bus driver was assaulted and there were two stabbing incidents, where two people were injured in one incident and one in the other.
Among the initiatives will be exploring the feasibility of installing CCTV cameras at the Downtown and Confederation Mall terminals. Members of the Fire Community Support team will also be deployed to bus terminals and on bus routes with a higher number of reported problems.
In addition, there are plans to provide de-escalation training for frontline Saskatoon Transit employees.
The City of Saskatoon says since the beginning of May Saskatoon Transit has increased security patrols at the Downtown, Confederation Mall and Market Mall transit terminals along with additional supervisor ride-alongs with operators to have an increased uniformed presence on buses and at facilities.
The full list of initiatives announced Thursday include:
1. Streamlined process for reporting an incident to Saskatoon Police Service to assist the incident investigation.
2. Deployment of the Fire Community Support team to bus terminals and on bus routes with a higher number of reported incidents.
3. Running a public marketing campaign featuring frontline employees from Saskatoon Transit to increase the profile of bus operators in the community.
4. Developing a process to ban a problem customer from Saskatoon Transit buses and facilities.
5. Exploring the feasibility of installing CCTV cameras at the Downtown and Confederation Mall terminals.
6. Rolling out the new Workplace Violence Prevention Policy and updated Respectful and Harassment-free Workplace process and introducing the new Corporate Customer Conduct Standard.
7. Developing and delivering new customer service and de-escalation training for frontline Saskatoon Transit employees.
8. Enhanced mental health support for Saskatoon Transit employees.
9. Advocating for tougher sentences under the Criminal Code for assaults against a Saskatoon Transit employee.
