5 hours Ago By Brody Langager
On a day city councillors sought more information about transit safety and an upswing in bear spray usage, a bus-riding advocate in Saskatoon questioned why it’s taking this long for answers and a plan. After a report went to the city’s transportation committee last week, conversations focused on ways to improve safety, including options for passengers to discreetly report issues in real time over text messages. The city noted it was looking at how other municipalities are rolling out similar systems, but Peter Gallen from Bus Riders of Saskatoon said that was something the organization asked the city to look into back in 2016.
“There should already be sufficient statistics available from data collected by bus operators on a daily basis for Saskatoon Transit to have an indication, almost nine months in, whether current efforts had a truly positive effect on safety in our buses,” Gallen said The report says Saskatoon Transit employees saw an increase in aggressive and violent incidents at the beginning of 2024, prompting the creation of the Saskatoon Transit Frontline Employee Safety Plan. A commitment to undertake 17 initiatives to improve workplace safety was created last June. The city says the second half of 2024 showed improvements after the safety plan was implemented.
Director of Saskatoon Transit Mike Moellenbeck said there’s “several different models that exist” of app-based or text-based reporting tools. Moellenbeck said the only way for riders to currently communicate a problem in real time would be to speak with the bus operator or call 911. Coun.
Scott Ford noted that stadiums across Canada have a text line where people can report issues — a system the city is exploring, Moellenbeck said. Darcy Pederson, the president of ATU Local 615, the union that represents bus operators, submitted a letter to committee looking for additional safety actions like a transit police force or peace-officer program. Pederson said a growing number of incidents involve non-destination riders causing disruptions, unresponsive passengers requiring emergency services, abuse of the no-fare collection policy, increased passenger-on-passenger violence, and bear spray attacks.
“These incidents not only compromise the safety of our members, but also the well-being of the riding public,” Pederson said. Coun. Randy Donauer said he has heard about an upswing in bear spray incidents and wondered if there was an urgency to address the issue.
Moellenbeck said work was done with the interagency support team, which has led to a number of arrests around bear spray on buses, “so there has been success on that front.” Because provincial and federal rules are in place around bear spray, the city says it has limited jurisdiction. Meetings have been held with the Saskatoon Police Service, the city noted, and SPS recently submitted a proposal with plans and ideas to address the issue.
A statement from Saskatoon police said Chief Cam McBride “has indicated curbing its illegal use is a primary policing challenge he hopes to address this year.” Donauer wondered if arrests would be sufficient deterrent, or whether the city needs to look at a possible bylaw to restrict sales of bear spray. Moellenbeck said even if people get arrested and released with conditions, it helps Saskatoon Transit enforce its rider bans.
Donauer asked when the city will know if the current plan around community support is working, or whether they need to move to something more extreme like transit police. City administration said a report expected in June is being prepared on an accelerated timeline. Coun.
Bev Dubois asked if getting the report back in May was a possibility. In last week’s report to committee, it was noted there was only one bear spray assault on a bus operator reported in 2025. Moellenbeck said an overwhelming majority of bear spray incidents were directed at passengers, and therefore weren’t considered assaults on bus operators.
Passengers were also surveyed through the transit app over three weeks last November and December. The city said roughly 1,600 passengers responded to the survey each week. Results from the first survey saw 51 per cent of people rate the ride as very safe, 47 per cent rate it as fine, and two per cent rate it as not so safe.
The second survey saw 43 per cent of people rate the ride as very safe, 53 per cent rate it as fine, and five per cent rate it as not so safe. The last survey saw 55 per cent rate their ride as very safe, 42 per cent as fine, and three per cent as not so safe. Coun.
Robert Pearce said he did his own survey online in a user group, using that same language. “I got news for you: roughly 80 per cent say it’s not so safe,” Pearce said. Moellenbeck said they often engage with user groups, and said the data brought forward by Saskatoon Transit is a representation of a broad number of users, and doesn’t get into specific routes or locations.
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