The mother of a young man, who was stabbed to death while on-board an OC Transpo bus, says little has been done to improve safety on public transit since her son was killed more than two years ago.

"If it could happen to Michael, it could happen to anybody -- anybody," Cathy Knapman told CTV Ottawa on Wednesday.

Knapman's son Michael Oatway, 23, was killed in September 2006 after he refused to hand over his iPod to a group of youth who were also riding the bus.

Shawn McKenzie, 20, is now serving time for the murder.

Although police issued safety tips about swarmings and personal robberies following a recent late-night incident at the Billings Bridge transit station, Knapman says that's not enough.

"The City of Ottawa is unwilling to acknowledge that the bus has safety issues," she said, adding near-empty buses running late at night create an ideal environment for criminals.

However, the head of OC Transpo's law enforcement unit says the agency has made great improvements to safety since Oatway's death -- there are more cameras, more education and more security.

"We have 45 uniformed special constables; we have 12 communications officers; as well as 14 enforcement officers, which are on duty 24-7," said Kimberly Weston-Martin.

But Knapman maintains the likelihood that a special constable is around at the time of an assault is slim: "I don't think it's near enough," she said.

However, according to statistics from Ottawa police and OC Transpo, crimes against people on OC Transpo buses, trains and transitways have decreased since Oatway's death.

In the last year, there's been a 24 per cent drop: from 161 reported cases in 2007 to 130 in 2008.

Still, Knapman is pushing for a coroner's inquest into her son's death.

She will also continue to warn the public of the safety risks people take when they get on a bus late at night.

"Maybe had he sat closer, maybe had there been signs on the bus that said beware of sitting at the back when there's no one, when it's not a full bus," she said.

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Catherine Lathem