Suicide attempts on Toronto’s subway system increased last year, reaching their highest level since 2000.

According to the TTC, there were 30 suicide attempts on subway tracks in 2014, nearly double the 17 in 2013 and higher than the annual average of 23.4. Agency staff say that one-third of the attempts were fatal, and no one station appears to be a magnet for suicidal behaviour.

Such information about subway suicides is rare, as specific attempts aren’t generally reported on. But the transit agency released some figures Wednesday amidst a city council debate on whether to invest in platform edge doors (PEDs) as a way to prevent people from jumping onto tracks.

After a lengthy debate, council voted 35-4 to request the TTC “consider” retrofitting existing stations with the barriers and including them in the designs for all new stations. It’s not clear how the project would be funded, however.

Rookie Councillor Joe Cressy (Ward 20 – Trinity-Spadina) was among those who supported PED proposal. “The bottom line is we have too many suicides in our society. And the bottom line is we can do more to prevent suicide,” he said in a speech to council.

Installing platform edge doors was one of several recommendations made by Toronto Public Health in a report last October on preventing suicides, which account for 243 deaths a year in Toronto. That’s four times the city’s average annual murder rate and three times the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents, according to TPH.

Platform barriers have proven effective in deterring suicides on transit systems in Hong Kong, Singapore and Paris, and TTC staff say they could save 10 to 15 lives a year in Toronto.

But the barriers do more than just save lives. They also prevent delays by keeping pieces of debris from blowing onto the tracks and catching fire when they contact the third rail, and allow for more efficient passenger boarding. A 2009 feasibility study conducted for the TTC determined PEDs would improve service and would be a smart investment.

But while PEDs would provide many benefits, they’re also very expensive. It would cost $551 million to erect them on the Yonge-University-Spadina line and $614 million on the Bloor-Danforth line. That’s a huge amount of money for Toronto’s perpetually cash-strapped transit system.

TTC chair Josh Colle (Ward 15 – Eglinton – Lawrence) told council that while PEDs are “certainly something that the TTC will continue to look at… the reality is we also don’t have the money for it.”

Some councillors argued it would be better to put money towards some of the other unfunded capital work the TTC has on its books, including a $165-million shortfall in meeting provincial requirements to make the entire subway system accessible. Thirty-nine stations still need to be overhauled.

Others said the more than $1 billion it would cost to erect the PEDs would be better spent mental health programs.

Even if the money for platform barriers could be found, it would be several years before they could be put to use. Because they require subways to align perfectly with the platform barrier doors, the TTC would need to switch to automatic train control, a system in which the subways are controlled by computers instead of human drivers. The commission has begun the conversion on the Yonge-University-Spadina line, but that won’t be complete until 2020.

In the meantime, TTC spokesperson Brad Ross says the agency has several measures in place to deal with suicide attempts. He says employees or customers who witness a suicide attempt can access the TTC’s counseling program, and in 2011 the TTC launched the Crisis Link program that connects people on subway platforms to a distress centre via the push of a pay phone button. The agency’s Gatekeeper program also trains transit employees to notice and report suicidal behavior.

“We have had some success in preventing deaths,” Ross says. Sometimes suicidal people “break down” when approached by TTC employees, he says, “and we get them the help that they need.”

For a list of Ontario suicide prevention associations, click here.

bens@nowtoronto.com | @BenSpurr