OC Transpo and Safety Working Group launch customer safety campaign and new online incident reporting system

In partnership with the Transit Safety Stakeholder Working Group, OC Transpo today launched its 2015 customer safety campaign and new online incident reporting tool, further enhancing its commitment to the safety and security of its customers, staff and the Ottawa community.

“OC Transpo and the Transit Commission are committed to continuing to enhance an already strong safety culture at OC Transpo,” said Councillor Stephen Blais, Chair of the City’s Transit Commission. “The 2014 Customer Survey showed that 90 per cent of transit customers felt safe and secure on the transit system, but any incident is one too many. The 2015 customer safety information campaign will remind customers that no incident is too small to report – and the online incident reporting tool will make it easy and hassle-free to file a report.”

Transit safety and security is a joint responsibility of OC Transpo front-line workers and staff and other City services, including the Ottawa Police Service, transit customers and the larger community. The 2015 customer safety campaign and online reporting tool emphasizes the importance of letting OC Transpo know when you or someone else is being threatened, bothered, or encounters any type of violence while using public transit.

“OC Transpo cares about the safety and security of our customers and staff,” said John Manconi, General Manager of Transit Services. “The collaborative effort put forth by the Safety Stakeholder Working Group produced what you see here today – a robust 2015 customer safety campaign and a new online incident reporting system that will greatly benefit our customers, staff and the Ottawa community as whole. The Safety Stakeholder Working Group’s knowledge, feedback and passion were paramount to the success of today, and on behalf of OC Transpo, I wish to thank them for their contributions.”

A Safety Stakeholder Working Group was established in 2013 and brought forward excellent ideas, strategies and feedback into the development of the promotional campaign, website and online reporting system. The Working Group is comprised of OC Transpo staff and the following key stakeholders: Women’s Initiatives for Safer Environments (WISE), Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women (OCTEVAW), City for All Women Initiative (CAWI), the Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC), the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre and Hollaback!Ottawa.

“We are delighted that we have been able to build a partnership with OC Transpo that allows us to bring the voice of our members to the table,” said Julie Lalonde from Hollaback!Ottawa.

“WISE is encouraged by the results from the Safety Stakeholder Working Group, which led to key improvements to the online reporting system,” said Valerie Collicott from WISE Ottawa. “The new online reporting system will allow first-hand, anonymous and third party reporting. The public education campaign will allow us all to respond and learn how to support each other, and the improved website will give us more effective information on customer safety and security.”

In June 2014, a panel from the American Public Transit Association (APTA) presented the results of its March 2014 peer review of current system safety and security strategies and practices to support the Ten Point Safety Plan. The work that is being launched aligns with the recommendations made through the APTA peer review.

Transit customers are encouraged to tell OC Transpo about any experience that makes them feel unsafe or uncomfortable by going to octranspo.com and filing an incident report. If a customer is not comfortable reporting online, they can call Transit Law at 613-741-2478 (TTY: 613-842-3699 ) and file a verbal report.

For more information, visit octranspo.com .