The Homelessness Epidemic and Public Transit: TTC Operators Demand a Systematic Solution to a Systemic Problem!"

We are all aware of how much the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world we live in. It has made our own day to day lives more difficult, for one, but it has also caused pre-existing societal problems to worsen, particularly those of homelessness, mental illness, substance abuse and addiction in the downtown core of Toronto. .

As members of the public service, we all have literally been in the driver’s seat to witness all of the above issues as they have exploded, and spilled over to our vehicles. We have witnessed drug use (individuals openly smoking and injecting drugs), homelessness (people sleeping and turning seating areas into makeshift bedrooms) and mental illness (individuals having violent episodes due to their illness on our vehicles) When any of the above is brought to our attention, by a passenger or through our own observation; we have no choice but to address it. On occasion we have been assaulted and threatened on our vehicles for simply investigating a complaint from a passenger. There have been other instances where we have discovered bodily fluids  present on the vehicle - blood spilled due to injected needle use along with discarded needles, and feces in areas where the homeless have slept.

To be abundantly clear, we are not trying to vilify or disparage any of these individuals. We recognize many are suffering from these situations due to little or no fault of their own. Homelessness within Toronto is estimated to be 10,000 and growing, with many entering the overburdened shelter system for the first time in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis. This is a systemic problem, and it requires systematic solutions! It is with this in mind that we demand the following:

Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention and Response Teams to make regular visits on Streetcars to engage with those who require education and assistance.
Street outreach to make regular patrols on TTC vehicles to offer education and shelter referrals.
Teams of Crisis Workers to make regular visits on transit vehicles to provide assistance when required or educate the Operator regarding a particular individual.
A mass program of high-quality social housing to address the homelessness crisis, along with all the necessary tools and services to help these individuals cope with their problems and get back on their feet
 

As public transit workers, we are compassionate individuals, but at the end of the day, we are not social workers, and we can not solve society’s problems by ourselves alone. We demand that all levels of government mobilize the resources to solve this crisis immediately.