New Halifax transit safety bylaw aims to reduce incidents of on-board violence

Halifax’s transit safety bylaw passed its second reading in front of city council Tuesday.

“I am pleased with any motion forward, any movement forward for the safety and security of passengers and employees,” Shane O’Leary, the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 508, said.

The bylaw includes ensuring safety barriers are installed for each bus and it outlines rules and regulations that passengers must follow.

“The gist of the bylaw is that you can be fined or ticketed or removed from the property,” O’Leary said. “You can be charged and not allowed back on the property if you are violating codes of ethics or assaulting people or causing a disturbance.”

“We are seeing violence against the bus operators and people using transit all across the country. We need to have the tools there that clearly say what is expected and make it easier for police and other enforcement officers to actually enforce those rules. You have to have rules so you can enforce the rule,” says Halifax Coun. Waye Mason.

With the new guidelines in place, the focus turns to enforcement.

“Now the question is are we going to be able to ensure we have enough police officers and other enforcement people there to spot the behaviour and deal with it if it gets out of hand,” Mason said.

Senior management has asked for funding to hire safety and security officers to help with that enforcement.

“They will be going to council and asking for extra money for those in November so maybe a year and a half, two years down the road we’ll have actual transit staff that can enforce a transit bylaw,” O’Leary said.

Some councillors say the approval of bylaw T-1200 is just the first step toward protecting transit operators and passengers.

“I think there needs to be a lot more done on Safety on transit. Our population is increasing,” Coin. Tony Mancini said, which will hopefully mean more passengers riding transit.

O’Leary is hopeful this new safety bylaw will help with the recruitment and retention of transit operators. He estimates they’re short about 80 drivers and ferry captains right now.

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