Content warning: This article contains mentions of violence, harassment, assault, and death. 

Picture this: you’re walking towards your usual subway stop, trying to make it to an exam. When you reach the station, you see a light in the corner of your eye — or is that fire? 

According to CP24, this is what commuters experienced at Kennedy Station on December 28, 2025. At around 6:30 am, a man approached someone waiting on the subway platform and attempted to set their jacket on fire; thankfully, the victim was not injured. The following morning, at Scarborough Town Center, the man allegedly set fire to a jacket that was forgotten on a seat. He was later spotted outside the entrance of the mall attempting to light another person’s clothes on fire. 

He was arrested on December 30 and has since been charged with nine offences in relation to these incidents, including arson, assault with a weapon; and four counts of failing to comply with probation.

This is just one of many recent cases of violence in and around Toronto’s public transportation network. Subway riders wait for trains with their backs against the wall, while streetcar riders check for stray needles on seats. These random attacks in the commuting network are something U of T students are worried about more every day. 

Is this the new norm? On November 5 2025, The TTC announced a new initiative to increase security and social aid personnel, and enhance security surveillance camera usage. But the frequency of violent incidents on the network seems to be continuing uninterrupted, which raises questions about whether these safety measures are effectively preventing harm.

Repeat offenders

In early January, two people were assaulted with sharp weapons at Dufferin Station, one of the busiest stations on Line 2, without provocation. The survivors were rushed to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and the perpetrator fled the scene. 

Stories like these are creeping closer to campus, and random attacks are especially frightening for students whose campuses are connected to various transit stations. 

In January 2023, CityNews published a timeline of random TTC attacks, and the sheer number of incidents shows an alarming trend of public transit crime. A CBC article from November 2025 highlights that public transit crime peaked in 2023, and fell slightly in 2024. 

However, recent headlines and news stories don’t stop us from feeling like public transit crime is still soaring — and according to the CBC article, “these rates still remain well above those from a decade ago.”

The article also highlights a potential root cause of public transit violence. Transportation consultant David Cooper suggests otherwise in an interview with CBC News: “Much of the violence is committed by a relatively small number of people who have repeated encounters with officers…”

On December 11, 2025, a man allegedly waved multiple knives on the Yorkdale subway platform. He was later arrested and charged by the Toronto Police with possession of dangerous weapons and failure to comply with a probation order. 

Both this perpetrator and the one behind the Kennedy firesetting case caused violence while violating probation orders. Both were repeat offenders, like Cooper points out.

The Government of Canada reports that the number of criminals under probation has always been higher than those in custody. The last report was from 2023, when out of a total of 106, 344 offenders, approximately 59 per cent were out on probation, 7.7 per cent were on a conditional sentence, and 33.3 per cent were in custody. 

In December 2025, 20-year-old UTSC student Shivank Avasthi was fatally shot while walking in the Highland Creek Valley beside campus. There are eight different transit routes that stop at the UTSC campus, and a large portion of the student body commutes. The perpetrator was later identified as a repeat offender. 

It’s difficult and sometimes inaccurate to point to one cause for public transit crime. No one group can be blamed for the entirety of public transit crimes. However, many Torontonians express frustration with cases of violence caused by individuals with criminal histories or who are out on parole for recent crimes. 

Similarly, in cases where mental health and substance use are also linked to a crime, people express the demand for more resources for those struggling. No one wants to point the finger at just one group, because that risks demonizing people who simply need help. Ultimately, the goal is to cultivate a safe and accessible city for everyone.

Gendered violence on public transit

Amna Bakr, a second-year journalism student at UTSC, told The Varsity that she does not always feel safe commuting, and explains how being a woman commuter incites unique challenges and fears. 

“As a young woman, I always have my phone in my hand when I’m on the bus, in case anything happens,” Bakr said. “I also usually try to sit at the very back of the bus, so that I’m aware of my surroundings. I usually feel unsafe around male passengers that behave weirdly around me.”

While Bakr’s case doesn’t illustrate a crime being committed, it does highlight an important aspect of commuting for female students: the anticipation of crime or harassment. An article in Violence Against Women explains that on public transit, “women have a much greater fear of crime than men.” While men fear crimes like robbery, women fear crimes like sexual assault and harassment. 

These fears manifested for Ashley Thorpe, a second-year UTSC journalism student, when she was harassed and physically assaulted on a GO Train after attending a Blue Jays game near Union Station. On the train, Thorpe was sitting with her legs stretched on a seat across from her when two men joined the quadrant. 

One of the men began complaining about her legs being on the seat, but Thorpe rejected his request to move her legs since she felt she was not disturbing them by sitting as such. The men resorted to verbally harassing her before one forcibly removed her legs from the seat, and another sat on her. 

“I texted the constantly advertised GO safety and security line,” wrote Thorpe in an email to The Varsity. “They had me explain what happened, give a description of the men, and list what train car I am in, only to tell me that the one employee on board was not going to help me.” 

Instead, while still on the train with the men who assaulted and continued to verbally harass her, Thorpe was advised to “walk to the accessibility coach where the employee was” and ask for assistance. 

“I felt nervous to do this because all three seats around me were now filled with these…men, which made me feel boxed in. I explained that to the person on the line, and they said there is nothing they can do.” Thorpe was extremely shaken up by the assault, and later filed two police reports. 

The small, enclosed, and poorly lit areas make public transit a prime space for women to experience unsafety. Walking through unlit corridors or outdoor pathways, and being stuck in an enclosed subway car for extended periods of time heightens the risk level of commuting by isolating women, leaving them with fewer opportunities to navigate dangerous situations. 

In Thorpe’s case, despite alerting the transit authorities and Toronto Police Services (TPS), she still felt like the assault was inadequately addressed. “I filed two police reports because the process was so complicated. Oakville GO’s safety officers told me I had to file with TPS, since the assault took place while leaving Exhibition GO [in Toronto]. Then, TPS told me I actually needed to file with Peel Regional Police.”

While Thorpe was content with speaking to the two safety officers at Oakville GO, her gratitude did not extend to the Metrolinx company they represented. “As a company, [Metrolinx] are greedy and useless,” she wrote. “[Having] no employees on board to ensure customer safety is appalling and thoughtless.”

Thorpe’s comment about Metrolinx being “greedy” is not unique. Many transit riders express frustration about how prolific Metrolinx is with catching fare evaders, and yet when it comes to responding to assaults and attacks, that energy is seemingly nowhere to be found.

Incidents like Thorpe’s illustrate not only a common pattern of violence against women in and around public transit, but also a lack of interest in ensuring public safety in general. In 2025, a Reddit user posted on r/toronto about feeling “powerless” after being harassed on the TTC. They allege that a male passenger forcibly crowded around her as they entered the train, where he “spilled his drink on [her] bag,” and smirked mockingly at them while they “asked him to stop.” 

“I later reported it to the TTC,” the Reddit user wrote, “but I honestly don’t expect anything to come of it.” This lack of faith in the TTC’s ability to provide support for people who experience harassment exemplifies a major problem with the current reporting system.

Taking proactive and preventative measures 

I believe everyone has the right to a commute without having to worry about their safety. The TTC expansion of video surveillance and extra security personnel raises an important question: are preventative measures alone enough to deter violent crime and protect commuters? 

Cameras may assist with investigations after an incident has already occurred, yet they do little to help while crimes are actively occurring. Security and social personnel play a more active role in stopping a crime while it’s being committed, but they are not the most effective tool at preventing incidents altogether. This disconnect highlights a broader concern that current safety measures don’t address the root causes of public transit crime. 

While mental health and substance use are often cited as issues to be targeted in order to subside criminal activity in and around public transit, public safety is both the responsibility of the public transit organizations that move commuters, and the city they call home. 

It is necessary to create an environment that makes people feel like the help they seek when they witness or experience violence will manifest in repercussions for offenders, rather than complacency from the organizations that are supposed to provide safety. In Thorpe’s case, this would have looked like an immediate response from GOTransit’s “77777” emergency help line.

The violence that happens on public transit becomes part of our everyday realities, where the spaces we require to get to class, work, and visit our friends and family have become sites of anxiety.

Witnessing, experiencing, or even merely hearing about dangerous encounters in public transit can contribute to making the commuting experience a fearful one. Strengthening preventative measures is key to ensuring all students, commuters, and Torontonians can travel and exist without fear.