[URBAN NOTE] "TTC, Metrolinx confronting taboo of talking about suicide"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Jackie Hong talks about the taboo of suicide in connection with mass transit.

It is a tragedy often cloaked with euphemisms.

“Personal injury at track level.”

“Trespasser incident.”

But, breaking from tradition, two spokespeople from the TTC and Metrolinx have been using straightforward language about suicide and suicide attempts on their train tracks in hopes of fostering understanding and pushing conversations around suicide prevention forward.

Brad Ross, the TTC’s executive director of communications, has taken an approach that some Twitter users have described as “brutally honest.”

When questioned by frustrated passengers on Twitter about a 90-minute subway service suspension on Line 2, Ross responded, “somebody has taken their life. We’re doing all we can under the circumstances.”