TTC didn't take report of assault seriously, woman says after incident at subway station

A Toronto woman who says she was assaulted in the elevator of subway station says the TTC didn't properly investigate the incident and that it needs to do a better job of handling reports of public safety concerns.

Julie Richardson, a retired intensive care emergency room nurse, said another rider threw his mountain bike at her when they were alone in the elevator at Broadview subway station at about 6:30 p.m. on April 27.

The 69-year-old said the man used "inappropriate language." When she wanted to get off the elevator, he tried to block her way and she had to push her way past him. That's when he threw his bike, she said.

Richardson wasn't injured but decided to report the assault through the intercom. She then got on a train and reported it again to a supervisor at Davisville subway station. The supervisor didn't file a report and there was no follow-up, she said. When she called customer service, it had not heard of her complaint.

A special constable later phoned her and said a meeting would be set up with the police and the TTC on May 3 at 3 p.m. No one showed up to the meeting — Richardson said she later learned that the special constable forgot to pass along the information.

"Their mantra is, 'If you see something, say something,' but it doesn't really apply. Something happened to me, I reported it and nothing was done. It makes me wonder about the security and the safeness of the TTC at this point," she said.

"In my particular case, it's just shameful."

Richardson said a follow up was necessary. "People are getting killed on the TTC and it's important," she said. "The consequences of the assault could have been a lot more serious than it turned out to be."

The TTC, for its part, said on Wednesday it has apologize directly to the customer.

"We take all reports of public safety concerns seriously and they are always documented, as this one was. We also strive to provide compassionate customer service when they are reported," TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said in an email on Wednesday.

Green said the TTC has looked into the incident, been in regular contact with the customer over the past two weeks and spoken to the Davisville station supervisor. He said the supervisor took "immediate action" to secure video from the elevator.

He said the customer met with a special constable to file a report and a copy of the report has been provided to the Toronto police.

"Unfortunately, there was initially some miscommunication on our part regarding the existence of the video," Green said.

The complaint comes as the city continues to track the effect of measures it and the TTC have taken to improve safety on the transit system after a string of violent incidents in recent months.