New app will allow TTC riders to discreetly report harassment

TORONTO:The TTC is developing a new mobile app that lets riders instantly report harassment on subways, streetcars and buses.
TTC CEO Andy Byford told that the new smartphone application will allow those who see or are victims of harassment to take a picture of the perpetrator and report the incident directly to the TTC’s transit control centre in real-time.
“(The TTC) is a very safe system but there are still instances occasionally, very rarely but too many nonetheless, of women, particularly women, feeling harassed or vulnerable or insecure on the TTC,” Byford said.
If a customer is being harassed on the TTC, Byford said the new app will allow them to take a flash-disabled photo of the perpetrator and fill out information about what vehicle they are on and what direction they are going.
The information, Byford said, will then be sent to the TTC’s transit control centre, where staff can decide what action needs to be taken.
While emergency alarms are already present on board all TTC vehicles, Byford said the app allows customers to be discreet.
“One of the problems is, say for example someone is harassing you in the vehicle, the last thing you might want to do is draw attention to yourself by pressing the emergency alarm because then the person who is harassing you knows that you’re alerting the authorities to what they are doing,” he said.
“(With the app) the person who is allegedly harassing you wouldn’t even know it. It is that discreet.”
The TTC received 60 reports of assaults last year and Byford said so far this year, 35 incidents have been reported.
The app is not yet available but Byford said it is one of a number of initiatives the TTC is working on to make the TTC safer.
“I do not want my customers to feel harassed. I don’t want them to feel insecure on the TTC so that is why we are taking yet more proactive action in addition to all of the other safety features,” he said.