Students push suggestions for safer nights at Baseline station

Algonquin College students say dim lighting, construction and crowded buses make nighttime travel near Baseline station feel unsafe and are urging the school to improve campus and transit-area safety.

Many who walk or take transit say their concerns go beyond inconvenience and focus on real safety issues.

For Maria Giannopoulos, a third-year interior design student, the anxiety begins the moment she steps outside the ACCE building after late classes.

She often parks near the large construction zones surrounding campus and says the walk back to her car is uncomfortable.

“Sometimes after class I park near there, so it is dark, and I immediately start walking fast,” Giannopoulos said.

While she believes safety will naturally improve once construction clears, she stresses that students need solutions now.

“Better lighting would definitely help,” Giannopoulos said.

“It’s dark, and it’s also mid-construction season…all these barricades are kind of scary.”

Student Noah Belfer said there is dim lighting and what he believes is poor design choices.

“The grey signs feel scary and dark,” Belfer said.

Belfer thinks a colour change might do the trick.

“A brighter colour, even red or green, would help,” Belfer said.

Neither student has witnessed a serious incident, but both say they’ve heard troubling accounts from classmates.

Belfer noted that many of his friends are women who fear walking alone at night, a concern that resurfaces daily during their commute.

For second-year biotechnology student Yalda Zrabi, the problem begins with the buses themselves.

Before she started driving, she relied on OC Transpo and often found herself waiting outside in the cold.

“At nighttime, it was the busiest,” Zrabi said.

With space being so limited, Zrabi was often left waiting longer periods as weather conditions worsened.

“I would wait in the cold, and when the bus would come, it was full and packed with students,” Zrabi said.

Zrabi believes increasing the number of buses during peak evening hours would make commuting both safer and more efficient.

Overcrowding, she said, leaves students standing alone in poorly lit areas and adds unnecessary stress to an already uncomfortable situation.

With winter bringing earlier nightfall, Zrabi admits to avoiding staying on campus after sunset altogether.

“You can’t really see much, and it is a little bit scary walking by yourself,” Zrabi said.

Despite repeated requests, Algonquin College security services did not respond to questions about what the school is doing or planning to improve for students travelling during late hours around the Baseline station.

If needed, students can find more information about the college’s security services on their website.

Students can also check the OC Transpo website for more information about the buses that stop at the Baseline station, as well as details about their Safe Stop system.

For a safer experience, the Safe Stop system allows riders to ask the bus driver to let them off closer to their destination after 7 p.m. It’s helpful for those heading home after a 9 p.m. class.

For now, students say they are relying on each other by walking in groups when possible, keeping friends on the phone during late-night commutes and hoping for brighter days and brighter lights ahead.