Transit employees all over the country are facing more violent attacks and the trend worries the Regina Transit employees union..Darcy Kluge, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 588, said it's important for transit to be safe for employees and riders.. Darcy Kluge .“Our members are very concerned with the increase of abuse to transit operators. To have to worry about being verbally, physically or even sexually assaulted when you are just doing your job should be unacceptable,” said Kluge..“But not only that, this impacts the transit users as well.”.Kluge pointed out in the past few weeks, violent incidents on public transportation gained nationwide attention..In March, a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death in a random attack at a Toronto subway station..Earlier this month, a man's throat was slashed on a bus in Surrey, BC, and he suffered life-threatening injuries..Last week, a 17-year-old boy was fatally stabbed on a bus in the Vancouver area..Although these incidents were not targeted at transit workers, Kluge said the safety of employees and passengers must be given greater priority..“To improve safety, we need to take an approach that not only looks at the safety of the operator, but includes transit users as well,” said Kluge..“Things like increased enforcement, better education and working with the community should be considered. We need support from our employer to look at the increased incidents and work together that can find solutions to help reduce and hopefully eliminate incidents. We are always open to discussions on improving our members’ safety.”.Also, Kluge said they're aware of 10 incidents involving transit workers in 2023. In 2022, there were only eight incidents reported..Kluge said just last month a passenger brought a gun onto a bus..There are also other acts of violence experienced by workers on the transit system, including physical assault, punching, spitting, verbal abuse, robbery, and fights between passengers..The Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) released a set of 27 recommendations Monday, ways to make travelling safer on public transportation..One of CUTA's proposals was to hire additional peace officers, special constables, and police officers who would work directly on the transit systems..“It’s obvious, I think, to Canadians we’ve got to address this issue,” said Marco D’Angelo, president of CUTA..D’Angelo recommended the Canadian government modify the Criminal Code to create specific criminal charges to protect all transit employees, not only transit drivers.
