TTC ridership down but assaults on passengers up, new data suggests

TTC ridership has been way down during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has been anything but quiet.

According to the Toronto Star, data from the TTC shows assaults against its employees is up by 50% and up by 34% against passengers over the course of a year.

ATU Local 113 President, Carlos Santos, describes some of the issues TTC staff have been dealing with.

“Go to work every day and not know whether you’re gonna get COVID-19, not know whether you’re going to get assaulted every day. It’s been quite a challenging year.”

As for some passengers, Santos explains it hasn’t been pleasant, “people spitting, a lot of people throwing drinks on them or even just verbally assaulting them”.

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TTC spokesperson, Stuart Green, says with the transit company being one of the few public spaces regularly open, one of the issues is the increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness, mental health issues, or are in crisis consistently riding the rocket.

“I do not want to leave the impression that we think that people who are experiencing homelessness are responsible for increasing crime”.

Green is concerned with the increase in assault for both passengers and TTC staff, “any increase, frankly, is a point of concern for the TTC. Safety is top of mind and everything that we do.”

He says while the homeless are not to blame for the increase of violence, there must to be more help in the community for what they need.