Edmonton needs to hire ten more transit peace officers to meet an urgent need to improve Edmonton transit security, particularly along the LRT line, a new city report says.

The workload for 51 full time officers who make up the force is rocketing: officers handled 26,673 security calls, nearly the double the 14,290 they handled the year before.

"Security resources are urgently required at the transit centres and LRT stations between Churchill and Clareview stations during the later afternoon and evening hours," the report states.

The additional officers will allow ETS to respond to more "hot spot" locations and conduct more proactive patrols.

City councillors on the city's transportation and public works committee will be asked next week to consider increasing the transit budget by $1,000,000 to pay for salaries, training and equipment for these new officers.