New Transit Safety Team starts in Winnipeg

With the goal of providing a safer transit experience for both drivers and riders alike, Winnipeg’s new Transit Safety Team hit the streets Tuesday for their first day on the job.

“The whole team and myself included are just excited to get out here and start playing a part in community safety,” said Robert Chrismas, team lead of the Transit Safety Team.

“Eventually we’ll be stepping on the buses and dealing with incidents but for today we just wanted to get out and be seen and start acclimatising the team to the environment.”

Following the completion of a month-long training program, members of the City’s Transit Safety Team patrolled up and down Graham Avenue, and within short order were already making an impact.

“Well we just started, we’ve already handled half a dozen incidents in the first ten minutes of them stepping off the bus. So I think it’s been a great success,” said Chrismas.

The transit safety officers are decked out in high-viz uniforms, and will have the power to detain and arrest people but will also be there to provide first aid, including administering naloxone, and connect individuals with services like addiction and mental health support. A step former Transit Inspector and now Supervisor Sean Berman believes will go a long way in filling holes that previously existed.

“It always seemed there was a gap between what he could do and what was needed to be done, and I believe this team kind of bridges that gap and allows us to better serve the citizens of Winnipeg,” explained Berman.

President of the local branch of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Chris Scott says his members are cautiously optimistic the new Safety Team will help put a stop to the growing number of incidents on city buses, which has seen a near 200 percent increase in the past 4 years.   And hopes once they have ‘bus legs’ underneath them, they can start addressing fare evasion. 

“The number of assaults directly on drivers based on our records is 164, so we certainly need to see those numbers drop,” said Scott.

“In a FIPA request that we did in 2023, the first ten months estimate for fair loss, was between 5.3 million and 6.7 million, so if they can cut that in half that’s their annual budget.”

The Transit safety team will primarily focus on routes connected to Winnipeg’s downtown core, and will operate within transit service hours, including weekends and statutory holidays