Sudbury bylaw officers now a permanent security presence at transit terminal

Transit fares increasing in Sudbury Greater Sudbury GOVA is increasing is regular cash fares by 50¢ to $4 on Jan. 15. Adult cards & 31-day passes will also increase by 14%.

Greater Sudbury’s corporate security and bylaw department are now providing a permanent security presence at the downtown transit terminal.

Bylaw officers took over security at the transit terminal July 1 as part of a pilot project. Before that date, in the first half of 2023, a private security company was handling security at the downtown transit terminal and documented 686 security incidents.

Since taking over July 1, bylaw officers have documented 1,960 security incidents, a significant increase.

“The reason we have seen the increase is because the service level has improved,” said Stefany Mussen, the city’s director of corporate security and bylaw services.

“So the incidents that are happening are being noticed more and dealt with and being documented appropriately. And we keep a record of each of those incidents in our record management system here at the city.”

Two bylaw officers are posted at the terminal from 6 a.m. to midnight.

“The majority of incidents that we respond to at the terminal are usually, like, unwanted people or trespassers,” Mussen said.

“Peoples that have been (banned) from the property for engaging in prohibited activities. Sometimes our officers are just redirecting them or connecting them with services in the community.”

FEWER POLICE CALLS

Bylaw officials confirmed sometimes police need to be called and that those calls are down since the city took over security.

“We looked to police for some data in November and at that time we were able to note that pre-intervention, the average monthly calls to police were about 41 and that has decreased down to 29,” said Mussen.

Council has approved having bylaw handle security at the transit terminal permanently.

The city confirms the transit service in Sudbury moved 5.2 million passengers in 2023, an increase from pandemic levels, with most routes passing through the downtown terminal.