Public Transport and the Distribution of Crime
Research provides some indications as to the influence that
public transport systems can have on the distribution of crime in
the local community:
- Research suggests that offenders occasionally use public
transport to travel to and commit crime in the city centre but
they rarely use it to reach more distant suburban areas (Smith
and Clarke, 2000).
- Research by Block and Davis (1996) suggests that robbery is
concentrated around public transport stations. Their study of
robberies in Chicago revealed that, in two of the districts
studied, the risk of street robbery was much higher in areas
surrounding the metro stations. In fact, the authors concluded
that every transit station in these two districts was a hot spot
area for robbery. In particular, the study found that robberies
were not concentrated immediately around the stations but were
highly concentrated one to two blocks away from the station,
with a secondary peak at about five blocks. The authors
suggested that in these ‘fringe’ areas there was an adequate
supply of victims for robbers, but, unlike the areas immediately
around the stations, in these areas there were fewer members of
the public available to detect or discourage them.
- A more recent study by of robberies committed throughout
England and Wales concluded that many robberies occurred in city
centre areas, close to public transport nodes and routes. One
reason offered by the author for this finding was the tendency
for passengers to check and use mobile phones when leaving
sub-surface public transport stations. This behaviour may
provide the opportunity for quick grabs and/or increase the
anticipated rewards for potential robbers or thieves. See the
Home Office report The
nature of personal robbery.
- Poyner (1980) found that the majority of late night assaults
committed in the city centre of Birmingham occurred on streets
leading to bus and taxi facilities. Most of these assaults were
the result of chance meetings between offenders and victims -
who had left late night entertainment venues and encountered
each other on their way to public transport facilities. The
author recommended increased policing of these streets at the
bar closing times. He also recommended putting bus stops closer
to the pubs and entertainment venues.
This research illustrates the value of mapping public
transport-related incidents to reveal links between public transport
and crime in the local community. For example, the Lambeth Safer
Stations scheme was established following the results of one such
study, which identified the areas around stations and the stations
themselves as hotspots for crime (Hart, 1997).
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City Centre Safe in Manchester
The City Centre Safe initiative was launched in Manchester in
September 2000 in response to increases in violent crime, disorder
and public fear of crime in the city centre. The aims of this
initiative were to reduce the number of serious assaults and glass
related injuries in the city centre, to improve the management of
licensed premises, to promote the provision of safe drinking and to
improve the perception of the Manchester City Centre. One feature of
this initiative was the introduction of ‘secured’ late night buses.
These late night buses were introduced to transport late night
‘revellers’ out of the city centre, in order to address the existing
lack of transport services, which were considered to be contributing
to violence and disorder in the city centre.
These buses were introduced following negotiations with the
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, Greater Manchester
Passenger Transport Authority and local bus companies, and a number
of crime prevention measures were integrated into the management of
the services at the time of their introduction. These included,
closed circuit television and help points at bus stops, set fares on
the buses to reduce confrontations with bus staff, bus loaders at
bus stops to help control behaviour and reassure users, and high
profile policing of the routes. In addition, radio contacts were
established between bus employees, employees at the pubs and clubs,
the CCTV control room and police patrols. Although no formal
evaluation of the initiative was undertaken, the City Centre Safe
initiative was considered to have contributed to the 12.3% reduction
in the levels of recorded assaults in the Manchester City Centre in
the 2001/2002 financial year. The website for the initiative is:
http://www.citycentresafe.com/
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