Bus Passengers Demand Better Security After Attack

Aug 5, 2008 3:31 PM

Even after the recent horrifying stabbing and beheading on a public bus in Canada, Greyhound spokespeople say that there’s no system in Canada similar to that in the United States, in which Greyhound bus passengers are subject to random security checks.

"Due to the rural nature of our network, airport-type security is not practical," says Greyhound spokesman Abby Wambaugh.

The violent act, which happened aboard a bus traveling from Edmonton to Winnipeg, leaves passengers requesting companies do something to prevent attacks.

"They should have security on the bus to check your bags," Amahed Ali, a regular bus passenger, told the Edmonton Sun.

But while Wambaugh says the company's vast system prevents implementing security screening in Canada, Greyhound has done so in the United States since a passenger stabbed a driver and caused a bus to crash in Tennessee in 2001.

The company has also received funding from the Department of Homeland Security to beef up safety measures in recent years, something Wambaugh says the company hopes will happen in Canada. During the last year and a half, Greyhound has been in talks with Transport Canada about ways to improve security.

On Edmonton’s public transit system, meanwhile, upgrades are under way to improve security beyond its network of surveillance equipment in transit centers and LRT stations, the Edmonton Sun reports.

"We're also implementing a camera system on our buses," says Glen Dennis, the acting director of safety and security for Edmonton Transit. The current work will see devices installed on 200 vehicles, with an eventual goal of having them on the entire fleet. The hope is the equipment will stop people from committing crimes as well as provide evidence when they happen.

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