Toronto is moving to trial barriers on subway platforms this year, adding more visible staffing and involving artificial intelligence in a broader attempt to reduce the number of people trespassing on the tracks.
The plan — set to go to the Toronto Transit Commission board meeting next week — is part of a broader safety push on the service.
The most eye-catching part of the announcement is a signal that the transit agency has serious plans to install platform edge doors across its network in a bid to increase safety and reduce disruptions.
The TTC will advance an extra $6 million for its plans to improve the Bloor-Yonge Station and add the option for platform doors in the future, as well as allot $2 million to add minimal barriers to its TMU Station.
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The latter plan will be modelled on a system in New York, where waist-high barriers have been installed along platforms to make it harder, but far from impossible, to access the track.
“The steel barrier is now, and we plan to do four more,” Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow told reporters on Wednesday. “The comprehensive system will need financial support from other levels of government.”
The plan will likely take years to roll out — and relies on billions that is yet to be budgeted if it is fully realized.
Coun. Brad Bradford, who is running against Chow for mayor in October, said the announcement had hints of campaigning.
“This is another example of the Mayor asking Torontonians to accept less when it comes to their safety, and making empty promises during election season,” a spokesperson for his team said.
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“This is a pilot project in one station, with no funding and no system-wide plan.”
While one station will see its platform barriers installed later this year, the majority of the rollout is likely years away and unbudgeted.
Alongside the platform barriers, the TTC will rely on artificial intelligence to attempt to predict where track intrusions are most likely to take place.
“What the AI actually is, it takes the data in terms of track intrusions and then over a period of time builds that algorithm,” TTC CEO Mandeep Lali explained. “That algorithm predicts the probability of someone jumping onto the track.”
The agency also said it would increase fare inspectors and other staff visibility during peak hours and deploy more special constables using real-time data.
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