YWCA Lethbridge highlights transit safety during Week Without Violence
A Lethbridge Transit bus is shown.
The third week of October is the global Week Without Violence, with YWCA locations across the country coming together to end violence against women and girls.
To mark the week, the YWCA Lethbridge and District is spreading awareness about public transportation safety.
"A lot of our women and children do rely on public transportation to get around so having safety measures in place for them is really important," said Cat Champagne, external relations director for the YWCA Lethbridge and District.
"Things like being able to jump on a bus if you're trying to flee a situation locally and knowing that you'll be transported safely, and there's access to 911 on that bus."
Lethbridge Transit has increased security at the Lethbridge Park 'n' Ride terminal, added additional security cameras, improved lighting and removed walls and doors inside the building.
Each city bus is equipped with 17 cameras inside and out, along with audio recording devices.
"The operators have access with radios to the dispatch centre for transit in the event of an emergency," said Joel McDonald, innovation and planning manager with Lethbridge Transit.
"(The) drivers can activate emergency response button that tie directly into 911 centre, so we can get police, fire or EMS responding for a sort of emergency."
As a result of the safety measures, manager of The Watch Shane Kisinger says service calls at the terminal have dropped.
"When I initially first took over here, this was probably our number one place that had the most stars on the map for problem issues, and it's definitely not that anymore," he said.
The partnership between the YWCA, Lethbridge Transit and The Watch has been established for the safety of all riders.
"We have a lot of students that are new to our city, we have a lot of families and young children," said McDonald.
"We have schools that will actually use our transit buses to get to field trips, so there's a really big need for security and safety in this building, and its upmost priority of transit."
"When you're accessing services here, whether it's at the Park 'n' Ride or on Lethbridge transit, that there are safety measures put into place so people can feel comfortable on both of those pieces," Champagne said.
Along with transit safety, the YWCA is hosting its Take Back the Night advocacy walk on Oct 20.
The walk will begin at city hall, wind its way through downtown and end at the YWCA.
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