Male passenger, 21, swarmed, stabbed on city bus

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This article was published 04/04/2025 (203 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The union for Winnipeg Transit drivers says 44 staffers are off work on psychological leave due to violent incidents — the latest of which involves the stabbing of a 21-year-old male passenger who was swarmed by attackers Wednesday night.

“We’ve got many operators suffering as a result of these acts of violence,” said Chris Scott, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, on Friday.

The union is once again demanding urgent action to protect operators and passengers.

Police said Friday the 21-year-old was attacked during an attempted robbery on a bus near Portage Avenue and Main Street around 8:30 p.m.. Officers found the man with an upper-body injury and applied a chest seal before paramedics arrived. He was taken to hospital in unstable condition but later upgraded to stable.

Several people tried to rob the victim before fleeing from the bus, police said.

The driver of the articulated bus, which was operating along the rapid transit corridor, did not witness the attack. Scott said a passenger told the operator, and the bus was pulled from service until around 11 p.m.

The union, which represents nearly 1,000 Winnipeg operators, says the 44 drivers have lost more than 19,000 workdays owing to psychological injuries from violent incidents.Scott noted that a few of them have missed more than 1,000 days each.

“These operators don’t want to be off of work,” Scott said. “They can’t go to work because of what they’ve been through.”

In February, there was a record 24 safety incidents — the most in any month since the union began tracking data in 2020. While overall incidents have declined slightly compared to 2023, Scott said the severity of the attacks has increased.

“It’s concerning,” Scott said. “Ironically, we’ve recently passed the one-year anniversary of the community safety officers being initiated and we were hopeful that would improve the situation.

“We applaud the effort to improve safety on transit for both the ridership and all the employees, but clearly it’s not enough.”

The city pumped $9.6 million into transit safety from 2017 to 2022. A new community safety team that launched in February is expected to cost $3 million annually by 2027.

“Winnipeg Transit is committed to providing a safe transit service and a safe work environment,” a city spokesperson said. “We are always exploring new options when it comes to the safety of our bus operators and passengers.”

Scott welcomed the province’s 2025-26 budget commitments to supportive housing, addictions services, and 12 new police officer positions.

“The time, clearly, has come where we need to see government, whether that’s civic or provincial, implement a transit department within the police,” Scott said.

“Vancouver has it. Several others in the U.S. have transit-dedicated police, just like cybercrimes, just like homicide. It looks like we are going to have to go this way.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca