TTC to announce increased outreach support on transit network

TTC increasing outreach to homeless population The TTC will be expanding its outreach support of the city's unhoused population that use the transit system as temporary shelter.

Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie will be joining TTC leadership for an announcement Wednesday morning on increasing outreach support on the transit network.

The news conference will be held at Davisville subway station at 11 a.m.

Earlier this year, Toronto police deployed an additional 80 officers to patrol the TTC following a number of violent incidents. Those extra patrols ended on March 13.

Some of the other safety measures recently implemented by the TTC include have included increasing the number of Streets to Homes workers in the system, ensuring a more visible management and staff presence throughout the network, improving and adding cameras in all stations and on all vehicles, and having Designated Waiting Areas on every subway platform with recently-upgraded and easier-to-use two-way communications systems that link directly to TTC staff.

More than 20 Community Safety Ambassadors from the City of Toronto’s Community Safety Team have also been deployed in the system as well as more than 50 security guards who have “daily experience dealing with under-housed people in crisis” and are trained in mental health first aid, overdose prevention, recognition and response training, and non-violent crisis intervention.

Last week, the TTC also introduced two new safety/security reporting measures.

Today’s announcement comes as mayoral candidates Mark Saunders and Ana Bailao say issues concerning safety on the TTC are among their top priorities.