SkyTrain fare gates are pictured in downtown Vancouver on April 20, 2020. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press – image credit)
Edmonton will look at installing turnstiles at LRT stations with the aim of deterring disorder, crime and fare evasion on the city’s transit system.
City council agreed in a 10-3 vote Wednesday to have administration come up with a detailed plan before it moves ahead with a pilot to test gates at two LRT stations
Councillors Erin Rutherford, Aaron Paquette and Keren Tang voted against the move, put forward in a motion by city Coun. Tim Cartmell.
“We need to look at having all the tools available to us,” Cartmell said during the meeting. “After all, if the things we were already doing were working so well, we wouldn’t have this constant conversation every two months about how transit is perceived to be unsafe.”
The motion asks city staff to outline possible locations and potential costs to pilot the gates.
The report is due back in late summer 2024, so turnstiles wouldn’t be installed until after council discusses the results.
Analyzing the options won’t cost the branch more money, said Carrie Hotton-MacDonald, manager of Edmonton Transit Service.
Hotton-MacDonald said staff can analyze types of gates, potential locations and costs within the existing budget.
‘On the platform’
Cartmell said concerns around public safety aren’t going away and many students don’t feel comfortable at transit stations.
“It’s the platform that scares those kids,” he said.
He then listed several violent incidents.
“South Campus stabbing on a platform a couple of years ago — on the platform,” he said.
“Lady pushed onto the tracks at Health Sciences — on the platform.
“Woman beaten by two 12-year-olds, waiting for a train — on the platform. Those things happened on the platform.”
Cartmell said if the city wants more people to use public transit instead of taking their own vehicles, “it’s going to have to start being perceived as being safe.”
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Work already done
Paquette noted that Calgary has already done an in-depth analysis on gates and concluded they wouldn’t make the system safer.
He said he’d support Cartmell’s motion if the work and research hadn’t been done in a city comparable in size and population.
“Therefore, it’s largely a waste of time and money,” Paquette said.
Edmonton is similar to Calgary, with an open payment system, he noted.
“There’s a reason that we do jurisdictional scans,” he said. There’s a reason that cities talk to each other and learn from each other, so we don’t have to duplicate efforts and we don’t have to spin our wheels on things when we know don’t work.”
Cartmell noted that Vancouver has had success in its retroactive installation of turnstiles in its SkyTrain system.
More peace officers
Wednesday, council also agreed to add transit peace officers (TPO) — potentially up to 40 — starting next spring, in a bid to stymie crime and disorder around transit.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi proposed that in a motion, which passed 10-3, with Rutherford, Tang and Jennifer Rice voting against.
The TPOs could fall within a few different realms: Transit Community Action Teams, Community Outreach Transit Teams, or regular beats.
Sohi said he believes more peace officers are making a difference and that the city has some momentum going in improving safety around public transit.
“Recognizing the heightened attention that Edmontonians are paying now to this issue because of the horrific incident that took place at the Coliseum station and another that took place close to the Coliseum station,” Sohi said. “I think we can further accelerate that work.”
Rutherford said she’s not opposed to the idea but would rather discuss it during the spring supplementary budget adjustments, instead of approving money outside the budget discussion.