Protecting public transport

February 12, 2022

Public safety on public transport is crucial to the running of an efficient city. Not only can it protect people in real time but it can also minimise threat

Security in public transport is one of the rising challenges worldwide. In the majority of countries, people are taking longer routes for daily commutes to avoid dangers, and women are especially affected. Although the situation is worse in developing countries than in developed countries, the world’s leading economies like Australia, Canada, the EU, the UK, and the US aren’t immune to security problems in public transport.

For example, Crime concern reports surveys made by the British Transport Police Authority are showing that between 4% and 10% of people in London avoid using public transport because of security issues and that women are especially exposed.

The Plan International’s online survey conducted between May and August 2018 on 392 experts from 22 cities world-wide found that sexual harassment is the number-one safety risk for girls and young women. 78% of experts described that women are in extremely high or high risk of becoming a victim of sexual harassment. While many cities’ transport systems are safe for women during the day, almost half (48%) of experts said it’s either extremely unsafe or unsafe for women to use public transport during night.

The survey carried out by the Women’s Committee of the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) on 1444 women transport workers from across Europe found that over 60% (n=911) of them had experienced violence at the workplace, some more than once.

Public transport security initiatives

There are a vast number of possible solutions to fight the security issue in public transport. Here are the most popular:

Increase the number of police and security officers: This is a general solution to all security-related problems. If there were police officers on each waiting station and transport vehicle, for sure, crime rates would be dropping dramatically. The problem with this method is pricing – it’s very costly to have a policeman or security officer at every station and vehicle. If we think about cabs and smaller vehicles, it is practically impossible.

Security education for passengers and drivers: This method is useful in the prevention of crimes up to one point. Education raises a chance that bystanders will help a victim, and can affect the part of offenders. On the other hand, it won’t have any effect on hard criminals and people with psychopathic tendencies.

Video surveillance and intelligence cameras: This is an effective approach to fight violence and crime in public transport, and more and more cities worldwide are introducing it. The obstacle is the need of monitoring each camera – machine learning algorithms aren’t perfect, so human control is needed, and one person can’t monitor an endless number of cameras in real-time. Passive monitoring also helps to prevent crime but in a lower amount.

Read the full article in our February issue here: February 2022 Single Issue – (securitybuyer.com)