I can take the security data one of two ways. One is to conclude that incidents are random, and leave it at that. The other is to assume there are reasons, but the reasons aren't going to jump out at us from this presentation of the data.
There are huge confounds in the data. Lets's assume the area around intersection X really is a bad part of town. There may be 3 or 4 routes through that intersection. All the incidents that occur there will be distributed through these routes. Each individual route appears innocuous. Besides, incidents don't necessarily happen at the point people board. So attributing incidents to the area is a bit pointless.
The data also doesn't speak to time of day. One would assume that some types of incidents are more frequent after dark. You would expect all night routes to have more risks. Others may be tied to the bars closing, or to when school gets out, or after FC matches. @Tigermaster pointed to overcrowding as causing incidents.
From this data, we will never know. I suspect that student ridership is one source of incidents, because fare evasion is a rite of passage for high school, even if you have a pass in your pocket. And high scool students just get stupid in packs. Seeing Ossington in the data immediately made me think of CAMH, but that's likely my own little bit of stereotype. I would have thought of 501 as the mother of all troubled routes.
I would like to see GO's data beside these numbers. And Miway's.
- Paul