New safety measures 'having an impact,' TTC says 1 year after fatal stabbing of teen at Keele Station

It has been one year since 16-year-old Gabriel Magalhaes was fatally stabbed while sitting on a bench at Keele Station, a shocking act of violence that prompted serious safety concerns among transit riders.

On March 26, 2023, vs was sitting on a bench in the lower level of the subway station when police allege he was approached and stabbed multiple times in an “unprovoked” attack.

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Magalhaes suffered life-threatening injuries and later died in hospital. A suspect, identified by police as 22-year-old Jordan O’Brien-Tolbin, was arrested that night and charged with first-degree murder.

The teen’s death was one of a number of violent incidents on the TTC over short period of time that sparked fear in those who rely on the transit system everyday.

Just months earlier, 31-year-old Vanessa Kurpiewska was stabbed to death on a subway train near High Park station on the afternoon of Dec. 9, 2022.

Police previously said that Kurpiewska did not know her alleged attacker, later identified as 52-year-old Neng Jia Jin.

In an effort to restore customer confidence in the wake of the high-profile incidents, the TTC subsequently unveiled a suite of new measures to address the concerns.

“We move hundreds of millions of trips every year without incident, but when there are those higher profile incidents, like the death of Gabriel Magalhaes and others, these are significant areas of concern for us, of course,” TTC spokesperson Stuart Green told CP24 this month.

‘A more visible presence’

Green said in this year’s budget, the TTC has made “record investments” in safety and security along the transit network.

Some of the measures have been in the works for years, Green said, noting that an uptick in safety concerns really started during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We know that during the pandemic, we saw more people who had mental health or addiction issues sheltering on the transit system. We also know that wasn't unique to Toronto. That was something that was happening in a lot of major cities, particularly those with the colder environments,” he said.

“We took a number of steps, unprecedented steps, for the TTC in terms of addressing those concerns.”

He noted that 50 special constables were hired along with 160 new station staff.

“So we've got a more visible presence,” Green added.

A three-month deployment of 80 police officers across the transit system was launched in January 2023 in response to a rash of violence on the TTC, including stabbings and people being shoved onto tracks.

Green said while the special deployment has ended, Toronto police officers in each division have since made transit patrols a part of their everyday activities.

“The good news is that we believe that the efforts that we started taking two years ago are having an impact,” Green said.

“We're seeing the number of incidents and offences against our customers and our employees down, 20 to 40 per cent reductions in the number of incidents from a year ago.”

That data is now publicly available on an online dashboard that was launched by the city last June. It tracks a series of metrics related to safety on the TTC, including the rate of criminal offences against TTC customers, TTC employees, and the number of major offences that occur across all transit networks in the city.

According to the dashboard, the rate of offences against TTC customers per 1 million boardings in February 2024 was 1.93, down from last January’s peak of 2.34 but up slightly from last February.

The rate of offences against employees seems to have seen a steeper drop.

The data suggests that the rate of offences against TTC staff dipped to 5.67 per 100 employees in February, down from 8.69 during the same month last year.

 

Customers say they feel safer: TTC

Shelagh Pizey-Allen, executive director of transit advocacy group TTCRiders, said she believes the increase in station staff has made “a measureable difference” in transit riders’ perception of safety.

“At their most recent board meeting in February, the TTC reported that there's been an increase in people's feelings of safety because of these new frontline staff that we're seeing in stations… So we think it's really good news to see that these new station staff have been having a positive impact,” she said.

“People's feelings of safety are really shaped by what's being talked about in the media and there was a lot of news, there were two really shocking and tragic murders on the TTC last winter… And that really made people feel a heightened sense of unsafety.”

She said the fact that there have been fewer high-profile incidents of violence on the TTC has “contributed to people feeling safer now.”

She said the rollout of cell service across the subway system has also been a notable improvement to safety within the last year.

Some cell service was implemented along the subway system late last year, a development the federal minister of innovation, science, and industry previously called a “critical public safety matter.”

Green said the transit agency’s most recent customer survey indicates that there has been rise in confidence with respect to safety on the TTC.

In a news release last month, the TTC said its latest survey shows that since October 2023, customer satisfaction with safety on the TTC has increased by seven points to 61 per cent.

“By adding more customer service agents in stations and expanding supervisory coverage, the TTC is actively working to improve the safety and well-being of both customers and transit operators,” TTC CEO Rick Leary said in a statement accompanying the release.

Pizey-Allen said while it is important for people to feel safe on the TTC, these “safety issues are not transit issues.”

“What’s happening in our city is playing out on the TTC because the TTC is a public space,” she said.

“There are more supports needed outside of the TTC in our society, in our city to support people in crisis.”

Last year, the TTC partnered with LOFT Community Services and the city’s Multi-Disciplinary Outreach Team (M-DOT) program to improve health and mental health supports for vulnerable people along the transit network.

“We've engaged street outreach workers, addiction (and) mental health crisis counselors, people who have expertise in dealing with people who are struggling and people who are on the margins who may be using public transit for shelter,” Green said, adding that these positions are now a permanent part of the budget.

“We do need to have more of that preventative presence in the system and that's why we've gone through those steps.”

He said while the TTC’s safety enhancements have seen positive results, it is not “job done.”

“We look at these numbers as very encouraging, but we certainly do not stop at that point,” Green said.

“We are still very much committed to ensuring the safety and security of our customers and our employees.”