On Tuesday, the Toronto Transit Commission said it has started work on an app that will allow Toronto commuters to discreetly and quickly report instances of harassment and assault on the city’s transit system.
According to a report from CBC News, the app, which is set to launch sometime next year, will allows users to snap a photo of someone who is harassing a fellow commuter and submit it to the proper authorities using their phone’s data connection or the TTC’s TConnect Wi-Fi system.
The goal is to help protect female riders, who are often the main target of harassment and assault on the city’s transit system, as well as provide a way for commuters to report aggressive behaviour without having to use the emergency stripes located in many TTC vehicles.
“I want my customers to feel safe and secure,” said Byford in an interview with the CBC. “If you felt that there was something odd about someone staring at you and you felt uneasy, you could very discreetly, without that person knowing, take a photo of them and … then send it to a transit control centre and it would be acted upon.”
The TTC says it has had 35 reported cases of sexual assault on its system through the end of May. In 2015, it had 67 cases, while the year before that number was 56.