Streetcar 'thoroughly cleaned' after syringe spotted poking out under seat, TTC says

The Toronto Transit Committee (TTC) says a streetcar was thoroughly cleaned after a rider spotted a syringe without a cap jutting out from underneath a seat. 

The incident happened on Saturday around 11 a.m. on a 501 Queen streetcar that was travelling eastbound, according to the user who posted an image of the incident on Reddit, where it received hundreds of comments.

The user, who asked to remain anonymous, said they informed two TTC officials who were on the streetcar as soon as they saw the syringe. The syringe was not moved or dealt with at the time, and the streetcar remained operational. The user then later reported the incident online. 

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said the incident was reported through the SafeTTC app. 

"The streetcar was immediately taken out of service and returned to the carhouse, where the syringe was safely disposed of and the car thoroughly cleaned," he said in an email to CBC Toronto on Monday. 

The TTC has not received any reports of injury related to the incident, he said. 

Green said incidents like this "are rare on transit given how many vehicles are in service at any time." 

"While we don't know how this got there or what it was used for, we can assure customers that as soon as something like this is seen, reported or discovered, we immediately take the vehicle out of service and do a full cleanup," he said. 

Riders are asked to report similar incidents to the TTC, such as by speaking to an employee or reporting it via the SafeTTC app, he said. 

Witness confused why TTC staff didn't immediately act

Marius Boshoff is a friend of the user who posted the image on Reddit, and was with them when they spotted the needle. 

After the initial shock, the friends discussed "what could have happened if maybe I would have [sat] on that specific seat or if a kid could have [sat] on that seat," Boshoff said. 

No one was sitting on the seat when his friend first spotted the syringe, and it was still unoccupied when they left the streetcar, he said. 

Boshoff said he is confused why the two TTC staff members on the streetcar — who he said were fare inspectors — did not immediately act when they were told about the syringe, such as by telling the driver or calling another official who could remove it.

"We made it pretty clear that there was a hazard," he said. 

CBC Toronto has reached out to the TTC about staff protocol in such a situation. 

Boshoff is visiting Toronto from Germany. The incident happened during his first time on a streetcar, he said.

"It will make me a little more careful on where I sit, where I place my stuff when I'm using the TTC here in Toronto," he said.