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The director of Calgary Transit says the town’s newly launched ambassador program exhibits promise, and there may be hope to extend the variety of ambassadors by the tip of subsequent month.
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The six-month pilot program launched in December. Calgary Transit workers sporting high-visibility reflective vests journey the CTrain system, offering help and derailment service to passengers between 6:30 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.
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This system began with 20 ambassadors. Sharon Fleming, director of transportation, mentioned the transportation supplier desires to double that quantity.
“We’re as much as 40 per shift,” Fleming mentioned. “We’re not there but. It takes time to, you understand, get folks the coaching and instruments they should do the job.”
Fleming mentioned 28 ambassadors presently work two shifts every day. She expects a number of extra to affix the ranks every week as they full their coaching, till they attain 40 by the tip of February.
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The ambassadors are employed from Transit’s pool of on-call customer support employees.
She mentioned it isn’t a completely new thought, because it beforehand made ambassadors out there in the course of the Calgary Stampede.
“We simply needed to strengthen that customer support alternative via a extra constant or frequent use of ambassadors,” Fleming mentioned.
On the finish of the six-month pilot, transit officers will have a look at this system as a part of its bigger deployment technique, which is being developed by the emergency administration neighborhood service group that can be chargeable for overseeing peace officers on the transit system.
“It is a part of a multi-pronged method – presence, safety and security – and I feel as a complete we’ll have the ability to have a look at how the deployment works properly collectively, and the place to speculate future funding for this.”
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Laing mentioned safety guards and peace officers have compliance and enforcement because the central a part of their job, and it modifications the connection between the transit consumer and the officer they communicate to. She mentioned it’s higher if folks can work together with somebody who just isn’t in uniform and is there to assist and help.
Laing beforehand raised issues about an extra police presence on CTrains final spring as a approach to cope with elevated social dysfunction on the system.
In a information launch, the town mentioned the ambassador program is working, and from early January supplied an instance of 1 ambassador working with the prepare operator to assist a passenger having a seizure.
“The prepare operator and ambassador labored collectively to securely escort the passenger off the prepare, contact our operational management heart to rearrange additional assist, and wait with the passenger till assist arrived,” the assertion mentioned.
Fleming mentioned she additionally is aware of of a case the place ambassadors helped reunite a misplaced little one with a mother or father after they had been separated on the prepare.
“I am actually trying ahead to listening to the superb tales our neighborhood and prospects expertise on account of the ambassadors, and I actually hope they’ve the influence we’re searching for,” she mentioned.
brthomas@postmedia.com
Twitter: @brodie_thomas
