TTC rolling out tool that will let it call out bad behaviour in stations over PA system

A camera is pictured at Kennedy Subway Station.

The TTC says it is rolling out a “real-time monitoring tool” that will help it detect antisocial behaviour across the subway system and respond to it quickly.

TTC Chair Jamaal Myers made the announcement about the about the Subway Assistance Management Program, SAM for short, at Kennedy Station Wednesday morning.

“Our officers can’t be everywhere. SAM helps bridge that gap using TTC’s camera and PA system,” Myers said. “Transit control staff can now spot antisocial behavior like smoking or unsafe behavior like loitering or vandalism to tell rule breakers to stop what they’re doing, and if they don’t, dispatch law enforcement.”

TTC staff say they implemented SAM as a pilot program at Kennedy Station in April after the PA system in subway systems was upgraded to a digital format.

It lets transit control staff deploy targeted messages through the PA system when bad behaviour is detected.

Control staff can, for example, issue a warning to someone to stop smoking in a station if a rider reports the behaviour through the Safe TTC app.

The system was borrowed from Sacramento’s light rail system, and cost about $250,000.

“Sacramento had huge, huge benefits in doing this, in terms of customer satisfaction and actual reduction in incidents, and also they could strategically deploy their operator or their enforcement folks to the areas where actually needed,” TTC Chief Operating Officer Fort Monaco said.

Myers said he’s not concerned that the system encourages people to report on one another through the app.

“I mean, we’re already monitoring the system, and if you don’t want to be called out, don’t smoke, don’t loiter, don’t commit vandalism. It’s pretty simple,” he said.

He couldn’t immediately say how many people have downloaded the SafeTTC app to date.

The system will not be deployed on trains for the time being. TTC staff said the announcement system on trains will continue to be a problem in the immediate future.

“I will say trains will continue to be a bit of a challenge because you are propagating a signal through an underground tunnel and you’re going to have some moments of difficulty,” Monaco said.

Monaco said the TTC is hoping to eventually improve the problem by upgrading the antennae underground.