Calgary Transit is looking into a video showing an apparent act of vandalism.
The Internet video shows a Calgary bus passenger trying to set a seat on fire with a cigarette lighter.
Vandalism is a criminal offense, and city transit security says it takes these incidents seriously and pursues them aggressively.
“When we do come across incidents like this, we take a look at everyone we become aware of and we do try to identify the location the time, trying to make that identification and then pursue charges,” said Brian Whitelaw, public safety coordinator for Calgary Transit.
“We have been pretty successful in a lot of cases where through some painstaking work, we’ve been able to track down offenders.”
It is not just buses and Ctrain cars targetted by vandals.
Bus shelters are also being hit, and 2014 was a high incident year for the City of Calgary.
The city’s 1,800 bus shelters usually have 400 damage incidents every year, but they reached that number in just the first six months of 2014.
The city is studying the problem and will file a report in the next few months.
New Years Eve is the busiest transit trip day of the year, and the city extended service to handle the extra load.
Security officers will be patrolling the system, according to transit managers.
They don’t anticipate major issues on New Year’s Eve.
“Our experience generally has been that New Year’s Eve has proven to be very safe time,” said Whitelaw.
“Not only a safe time, but very low demand on our peace officers.”
Tens of thousands of riders are expected on Calgary buses and Ctrains tonight.
Calgary Transit’s New Year’s Eve schedule is here.
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