“I take the metro a lot to the west and I can tell you that the Jolicoeur or Monk stations, on the green line, are not ideal. It’s very hollow, very big and it’s dark. We are really far from the responsible person’s dock. If something happened, we told ourselves that no one would necessarily know,” explains the young student, who agreed to speak with us.
It is only recently that Inès claims to have become aware of certain risks, especially in the metro. “There was a gentleman in the metro who came to talk to me and he wouldn’t let me go. It happened several times, since he then took the same bus as me. We had to intervene with the police. He wouldn’t let go of me. Now I’m more careful and I’m a little more stressed, that’s for sure,” she says.
The main interested party, like several other volunteer users, participated in one of the 15 “exploratory walks” that the STM organized between November and December.
First appearing in the 1980s in Toronto on the initiative of women’s groups, this concept is now widespread in Europe and North America. However, this is a first in Quebec.
Such a walk essentially consists of walking with the user, with several STM experts, in the metro network. The stations where there are the most complaints of incivility are targeted, including Papineau, Beaudry, Lionel-Groulx, Berri-UQAM, Bonaventure and Atwater.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The stations where there are the most complaints of incivility are targeted by the exploratory walks, notably Papineau, Beaudry, Lionel-Groulx, Berri-UQAM, Bonaventure and Atwater.
“Often, it is done in groups of eight to ten people. We, at the STM, found that this was not the best method, because the person is not in a normal context. By going there on an individual basis, we really make it as close to reality as possible,” explains the company’s corporate customer intelligence advisor, Marie-Christine Langlois, who is responsible for collecting user observations.
Very precise data
No matter what form it takes, each walk is an opportunity to target blind spots in terms of customer experience, says STM security director Jocelyn Latulippe.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Jocelyn Latulippe, director of security at the STM
We ask people a lot of questions about what makes them worried. There are some who will tell us about the lighting, the types of customers who frequent the station, the color of the walls, etc. Afterwards, it allows us to have very precise data on people’s feelings, and to take action.
Jocelyn Latulippe, director of security at the STM
Until now, his group mainly positioned its security workforce based on calls or complaints from customers at each station. “There, we want to go further,” says Mr. Latulippe, who will soon welcome around twenty new security ambassadors, who will be able to de-escalate without using force.
“These ambassadors, ultimately, we will be able to position them for example in long corridors of more isolated stations, where people do not always feel safe,” illustrates the manager.
The metro, “not a refuge”
Mr. Latulippe assures that “the metro network is not a refuge”. “That said, people who do not go to the resources, who are refused or who are too aggressive, often stay in the metro,” he notes.
“When we close at 1 a.m., these people, most of the time, are very calm. They ask us when it reopens, go get a coffee then come back. In the morning, they come back and have not consumed. In the evening, on the other hand, they often consumed all day,” continues the director.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Jocelyn Latulippe, director of security at the STM, assures that “the metro network is not a refuge”. “That said, people who do not go to the resources, who are refused or who are too aggressive, often stay in the metro,” he notes.
In the last year, between 1er November and April 30, his group had to escort no fewer than 7,000 people out of the metro at closing time. “And already for 2023-2024, we see that we are increasing,” says Jocelyn Latulippe on this subject.
“Before the pandemic, we could close three or four stations for that. There, in winter, we drive to between 15 and 30 stations that we have to close in the evening because there are people inside,” he adds.
Buses also targeted next year
If all goes well, the “exploratory walks” exercise will be repeated next year in the STM bus network, again prioritizing the circuits where users report the most aggressive events or incivility. Inès Moreau, for her part, welcomes this approach, but says she feels safer, in general, on a bus. “The driver is closer. So it’s easier to go see someone if you need help. Usually, on the bus, I don’t have too much stress on a daily basis, but my case is not necessarily representative,” she concludes.