TTC
TTC on Nov. 5 reported that Mayor Olivia Chow launched an action plan to improve safety across Toronto’s transit system. “This initiative is powered by an expanded safety and security force funded in the 2025 budget, including TTC staff, Streets to Homes outreach workers, LOFT’s Multi-Disciplinary Outreach Team, Toronto Community Crisis teams, TTC Special Constables, Provincial Offense Officers, safety ambassadors, and contract security guards, as well as Toronto Police Services,” according to the transit agency, which provides bus, subway, streetcar and Wheel-Trans services.
The agency’ Community Safety, Security, and Well-being Plan (2024–2028) was approved this week by the TTC Board. It is described as a “comprehensive six-point plan [that] aims to further enhance safety for both customers and employees, while boosting public confidence in the TTC.”
The six points are: collaboration and partnerships with city agencies and social services; clear communication and public awareness campaigns; active engagement with riders and employees; robust procedures and training for staff; ongoing improvements to vehicles, stations, and facilities; and data analysis and monitoring of safety metrics.
Through high-visibility teams, expanded crisis support, enhanced outreach, and continuous evaluation, the TTC said it is committed to reducing offenses, increasing customer satisfaction, and fostering a “compassionate, people-first transit environment.”
As part of the plan, TTC said it is taking steps to strengthen its approach to addressing fare evasion and activities not directly related to transit use, “with a focus on fairness and consistency across the network.” Staff will continue to “use discretion” and, where appropriate, connect individuals with specialized support services, recognizing the complex challenges some may be facing, it said.
According to TTC, adding TCCS crisis workers to service Line 1 bolsters the range of high-visibility safety and social supports already working in the system, including:
- 160 additional TTC staff and supervisors in stations and on platforms, compared with 2023.
- 137 TTC Special Constables, and more in training.
- 111 Provincial Offences Officers and 13 Provincial Offences Officer Supervisors.
- Streets to Homes outreach staff.
- LOFT’s Multi-Disciplinary Outreach Team.
- Community Safety Ambassadors.
Since TTC initiated a multi-disciplinary approach, it reported that:
- “Offenses have reached three-year lows, with offenses against customers down 28% since December 2022 and offences against employees down 38% since January 2023.
- “Customer satisfaction with personal safety has risen from 57% to 64% between 2023 and 2025, with a goal of 80% by 2028.
- “Customer complaints related to safety have dropped by 56% since January 2023, returning to pre-pandemic levels.
- “Overall satisfaction with the TTC climbed from 72% in July 2025 to 75% in August 2025, aiming for 85% by 2028.
- “Use of the SafeTTC app has grown by 9% since July 2025.”
TTC also reported that has:
- More than 32,000 cameras that now monitor the TTC system.
- Provided de-escalation training to frontline employees and improved employee support systems.
- Established a program with auxiliary police to conduct community safety events in partnership with Toronto Police Service20 Community Safety Ambassadors who engage with vulnerable individuals and those with complex needs.
- Initiated the Toronto Community Crisis Service pilot to support people experiencing mental health crises.
- Expanded partnerships with Streets to Homes and LOFT/M-DOT to support persons experiencing homelessness and mental health challenges, providing 24/7 support.
- Made available Naloxone at all stations and facilities to address the drug toxicity crisis.
- Implemented a program to improve cleanliness and state-of-good-repair at six stations.
- Extended bus operator barriers to prevent operator assaults.
- Instituted a public-facing dashboard that tracks key safety metrics and guides resource deployment.
“Whenever you need help on our transit system, help is here for you,” said Mayor Chow, who announced the plan alongside the TTC Special Constables, Provincial Offenses Officers, and many of the 160 additional, high-visibility TTC station employees made possible by a $31 million investment in the 2025 budget. “Our investment in resources and our unwavering focus on safety are making a real difference for riders and employees. We are committed to ensuring every Torontonian feels secure on our transit network, every day.”
“By listening to our community and acting on feedback, we’re building a transit system that puts people first,” TTC Chair Jamaal Myers added. “The downward trend in offenses and the increase in safety resources are a testament to our proactive approach to TTC safety. Our partnerships and investments are delivering results.”
“The Community Safety, Security, and Well-being Plan is our commitment to customers and employees that safety and security is our cornerstone,” said Mandeep S. Lali, who became TTC CEO in July. “We’ve expanded high-visibility teams, improved incident response, and strengthened social supports. The data show our approach is working, and we will continue until every customer feels safe, every trip.”
WMATA
This Veterans Day, WMATA is honoring the men and women who have served the United States with a special patriotic train, bus, and MetroAccess vehicle that will serve customers across Washington, D.C.; Maryland; and Virginia. With a network of six rail lines, 98 stations, 125 bus routes, and paratransit service, WMATA is the second busiest transit system in the country, and nearly 25% of its workforce has served in the military.
“In recognition of their service and the contributions of all veterans in our community, Metro [WMATA] will feature red, white, and blue stars and stripes vehicle wraps until the end of November,” the agency reported Nov. 6. The vehicles can be found on WMATA’s live tracker at wmata.com/live by clicking on “Special Edition.”
In related news, WMATA in August announced that the public selected Option 3 for the exterior design of its 256 8000-series rapid transit cars from Hitachi Rail, which will start arriving in 2027. The public was able to vote for one of three design options. Similarly, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority in 2021 asked the public to weigh in on the exterior graphic design for its 254 new Stadler railcars. The winner was revealed in 2022.
Further Reading:
- Report: DC Rail Extension Eyed for New Commanders Stadium Project
- WMATA Delivers $120MM Savings, Record Ridership in FY2025
- WMATA Garners Top APTA Award
TriMet
Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) recently gave TriMet’s payroll tax revenue bonds a AAA rating, according to the transit agency, which provides MAX light rail, WES commuter rail, bus, and LIFT paratransit services across 533 square miles of Oregon’s three most populous counties of Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas. “KBRA’s outlook for the bonds is stable, showing confidence that TriMet will continue to meet the highest standards for our ability to repay these bonds,” TriMet reported Nov. 6.
The AAA rating means that TriMet’s payroll tax bonds are “the highest possible quality investment and the lowest credit risk, while the stable outlook affirms that they are expected to remain that way,” TriMet said.
KBRA previously gave its AAA rating to TriMet’s payroll tax bonds in 2024. According to TriMet, Moody’s earlier this year awarded the bonds its top rating of Aaa with a stable outlook, and Standard & Poor’s has also given these bonds a AAA rating.
“Bond rating agencies apply tests to determine how likely it is that a public agency will be able to repay its bonds—all of which TriMet has passed, as the AAA rating shows,” TriMet said. “Additionally, KBRA describes the payroll tax that supports TriMet operations as ‘an exceptionally reliable revenue source.’”
TriMet relies on payroll taxes to provide transit service; it sells bonds to borrow against the payroll tax revenue the agency expects to take in. These bonds help pay for infrastructure improvements and capital projects.
“Thanks to the top-notch bond ratings we’ve received for our payroll tax bonds, we pay less in interest on those bonds,” TriMet said. “That helps to bring down the cost of improvement projects that allow TriMet to better serve our riders. As part of our strategic planning effort, TriMet is making deliberate service and budget reductions to ensure payroll tax resources will be available to pay our debt obligations for many years to come.”
Further Reading:
- TriMet Announces Service Cuts to Address Budget Shortfall
- WES: Commuter Rail Skirting Its Principal City
- TriMet Board Adopts $1.96B FY2026 Budget
WVU
WWU’s Personal Rapid Transit system, or PRT, is marking 50 years of transporting students, faculty and staff, and visitors across the Morgantown Campus, according to the University, which is celebrating the milestone with a series of special events Nov. 3-8.
Initially funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation with design and construction from Boeing, the PRT was an experimental project and the first large-scale automated guideway transit system in the United States, according to WVU. The 67 rubber-tired, electrically powered vehicles are built on a Dodge truck chassis. Cars travel at speeds of up to 33 mph on 8.7 miles of dedicated guideway between five stations: Walnut, Beechurst, Engineering, Towers, and Health Sciences. The trip from end to end covers four miles in 11.5 minutes.
The PRT has helped reduce traffic congestion in Morgantown by providing more than 100 million passenger trips, according to WVU. On average, 12,000 riders take the PRT each day, and the PRT’s reliability rate is said to be regularly above 98% thanks to a dedicated staff of more than 30 managers, central control operators and maintenance workers.
“The PRT is a quintessential and critical part of our campus community—a recognizable, bedrock piece of infrastructure that also stands as an ongoing example of the ingenuity that defines Mountaineers,” WVU President Michael T. Benson said in the PRT anniversary announcement on Oct. 27. “For generations, students, faculty and staff, and visitors have made their way to class, to sporting events, or to meet friends in the original PRT cars that run between the Downtown, Evansdale, and Health Sciences areas of campus along with downtown Morgantown as moving pieces of history.”
“There is no other system like this,” WVU Transportation Director Jeremy Evans said. “When the PRT was built, the design life on it was estimated at 10 years. It’s really a testament to the people who work at the PRT—especially our maintenance staff—who have kept it running for these 50 years. Our on-demand service is really what sets us apart. You can get on any PRT vehicle, pick the destination you want to go to, and we’ll take you directly there and bypass all the other stations. There are other similar systems, but you have to stop at every station, so we’re much more efficient and really the only ones that do it this way. We take great pride in how well the PRT runs to serve our students which is very important to everyone here.”
Evans predicts the PRT will continue to evolve, tapping into new technologies. “Possibilities include going to battery-powered vehicles that could someday allow us to take the PRT vehicle off the guideway and out into a dedicated lane somewhere and other places across campus and in town,” he said. “Five decades later, the PRT experiment continues in really exciting, forward-thinking ways.”
WVU will be holding the following events to celebrate the PRT’s anniversary:
- As part of Mountaineer Week and the PRT’s anniversary celebrations, behind-the-scenes tours of PRT Central will be offered Nov. 6-7. Each tour will give participants a look at the operations and technology that keep the transportation system running. Participants will meet at the Beechurst Station, where a PRT team member will gather the tour group to travel to PRT Central. Tours will last approximately 90 minutes and are limited to 20 people per group. Tours are open to members of the University community and the public, but space is limited. Find tour registration information here.
- The West Virginia and Regional History Center, located at the Downtown Library, will host a historical PRT display in the Atrium during regular business hours from Nov. 3 through the end of the year.
- The WVU Bookstore is hosting a special anniversary activation on Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, which will include a walk-through photo history of the PRT and a retro-inspired PRT collection available for purchase. WVU Bookstore hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
