Calgary Transit peace officers board a CTrain at City Hall/Bow Valley College station on February 11, 2026. Brent Calver/Postmedia file

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Calgary city council’s $9-million push to increase transit peace officer presence at select CTrain stations this year is starting to pay dividends in how safe passengers feel, a city briefing claims.

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Last December, council supported a 2026 budget amendment to establish a pilot project to increase the number of peace officers and security guards along the CTrain network during afternoon rush hours, from 4 to 8 p.m.

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Ward 6 Coun. John Pantazopoulos brought forward the proposal, which requested to pull $9 million from the city’s fiscal stability reserve to fund the temporary pilot.

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The pilot launched in January, concentrating additional security presence at several LRT stations chosen based on incident data.

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Those officers are now stationed at 10 stations, according to a briefing included on the agenda for council’s executive committee meeting on Tuesday.

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As of June 22, 2026, transit peace officers have replaced contracted security guards, and are providing a visible security presence from 4 to 8 p.m. They have “full authority to respond to bylaw and on view Criminal Code offences,” the briefing states.

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Thirty-four transit peace officers were recruited and trained to participate in the pilot this year, with the latest crop graduating in June.

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“Administration is on track to spend $9 million by the end of the pilot and will bring a full evaluation to council by the end of this year,” the city said.

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When the pilot launched in January, 11 contracted security guards would patrol the Marlborough, City Hall/Bow Valley College, Chinook, Tuscany, and Franklin stations from 4 to 8 p.m.

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Third-party security guards at the City Hall CTrain station on April 3, 2023. Azin Ghaffari/Postmedia file

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In March, the pilot expanded to 10 stations, with an additional 11 security guards contracted to patrol the Sunalta, Rundle, Westbrook, 8th Street West, and Southland stations.

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Transit peace officers were added to the Sunalta and Rundle stations during pilot hours, while corporate security also supported high-disorder locations across the system.

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To engage with transit users and evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot, the city is working with market research firm Leger to conduct random in-person passenger surveys through the year, with the goal of speaking with 4,800 people.

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In early April, 1,627 riders were surveyed at the 10 pilot stations, as well as at six non-pilot stations. A second survey of 1,600 riders was completed at the end of June.

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While typical municipal surveys use about 500 randomly selected participants, the briefing states a larger sample will provide greater confidence in the results, allow for better comparisons across locations, and establish a benchmark for comparing pilot and non-pilot stations over time.

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Key findings from the spring survey indicated that “some riders feel very safe at the station,” while most riders “identified observed social disorder as the main reason they do not feel safe,” according to the briefing.