STM launches text message reporting service to increase safety

The Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) has launched a new text message reporting service to increase safety on the Montreal metro.

After customers suggested this be put in place, metro users can now text +1(888)786-1119 to report non-urgent safety concerns in the metro to the city’s public transit network.

“The social context in the metro has changed considerably in recent years,” said Éric Calan Caldwell, a member of the STM board of directors. “The metro is a reflection of the general public space, and the same increasingly complex social issues can be observed there. Last winter was particularly difficult both for our customers and our employees. The situation leads us to increase the presence and the visibility of the security team in April by working overtime. We want to avoid and repeat of this situation.”

The text messages are sent directly to the STM’s surveillance room, where they’re analyzed and assigned to the right resource. Safety ambassadors, special constables, the City of Montréal’s mobile social mediation and intervention team EMMIS, Montreal police (SPVM), and maintenance staff are among the resources that can be called upon to respond.

“It’s … important for us to provide our customers with more services and tools so that they can feel completely confident being in our buildings,” said Marie-Claude Léonard, CEO of the STM, in a press release. “The STM is joining a network of major transit agencies that already offer this service, including the TTC in Toronto.”

Since Nov. 4, the STM has increased staff presence in 13 metro stations with teams of four, comprising special constables and safety ambassadors, to carry out more intensive patrols. The STM has added 15 new constables to the field, bringing the total number of constables to 180, with 20 others currently in training and expected to join the field in December. Fourteen safety ambassadors are also in training and will be deployed later this month, bringing that number to 30 total safety ambassadors.

In addition, the STM says metro managers are on hand during morning and evening rush hours. They wear yellow STM-branded jackets to be easily recognizable, and answer any customer questions.

“We are not a shelter. People cannot sleep in the metro,” added Caldwell. “People cannot go and eat and respond to their basic need in the metro. More and more people are coming in the metro. We have to find solution, because it’s an issue for us. We have to reinvest in security. We have to reinvest in cohabitation.”

Aside from the new text message plan, metro users can raise safety concerns by using the red phones located at the ends of the platforms to contact the control room, or using the intercoms in metro cars to contact the train operator.