Emergency texting takes off: CTrain riders seek out discreet way to fight crime and disorder on their commute

CBC Calgary is focusing on transit safety, a complex and multi-faceted topic. Read more of our coverage and contribute from your experience at cbc.ca/transit. Check back Tuesday for a piece on why some people using drugs seek out transit stations. 

Three people began smoking drugs with a propane lighter in the middle of a busy train car last week as Heather Clitheroe was trying to get home.

She was uncomfortable, worried for the children nearby and felt unsafe. But she didn't want to make a scene. 

So she did what an increasing number of Calgary Transit riders are doing these days. She pulled out her cellphone and with the stroke of a few keys, sent an alert through the Transit Watch texting service. 

"The best part is that you can report something that's not an immediate emergency. It's not a 911 sort of thing. But just to say 'hey, there's something going on,' and do it quietly and discreetly without escalating a situation," said Clitheroe, who works in administration and has been using transit for more than 25 years.

"You don't make something worse because a lot of the time it can probably be de-escalated by transit police without it needing to go a whole lot further."

When CBC Calgary launched this community-driven project on transit safety, we received hundreds of messages from transit riders and former riders. More than a dozen people specifically mentioned this emergency texting number.

Many users love the texting service because it doesn't attract attention and can be used for a multitude of issues — everything from icy bus stops and broken glass, to drug use on transit and threats or assaults. It can even be used when someone is sleeping rough and needs to be checked on. 

But others raised questions about who was answering their messages when they text 74100, why they don't always get the prompt or personal followup they're hoping for, and what difference all these reports are making.

Hannah Kekkonen is a petite young woman who has been riding transit "every day, twice a day" for the last 15 years. Most evenings she takes the CTrain from Sunnyside Station to her restaurant job near Crowfoot Station.

Texting is discreet, she said, and there's usually a basic response within minutes. Although the outcome isn't always great.

Once, Kekkonen reported needles on the train and an officer responded on site within 10 minutes. But another time, she reported being followed and threatened with violence. After a few questions about the person's description and what happened, she never found out if transit authorities looked into it further.

"I feel unsafe. It's very frustrating as a paying customer and having paid thousands of dollars to have nobody help me out when I need it."

Calgary Transit said the Transit Watch text service was launched about four years ago. It declined a requested tour of the dispatch centre but said that last year dispatchers got 13,851 texts. Of those, 3,000 incidents were serious enough to send a security team as soon as they could.