Design and Management Guidelines for Stations

A variety of guidelines have been developed to assist managers and planners in designing out crime at stations. Good design also needs to be combined with effective management and policing practices. Some design and management guidelines have been produced by Lopez (1996) and the Department for Transport. See the Department for Transport document Personal Security on Public Transport Guidelines for Operators. 

Table 8 summaries some of the guidelines produced by Security Response Group Inc.

Table 8. Summary of guidelines for the design and management of rail stations and station property. Source: Adapted from Security Resource Group Inc (1999).
Security, Safety, and Rapid Transit.

Crime Concern has also published a number of British case studies illustrating good practice in the initial design and management of bus stations in England and Wales. See the full report Get on Board: An Agenda for Improving Personal Security Good Practice Case Studies. 

Many of the design features and management practices utilised in these facilities are similar to those referred to in the Washington D.C. Metro and Port Authority Bus Terminal case studies. However, other points of note from these case studies include:

Birkenhead Bus Station, The Wirral, Merseyside (opened 1996)

• To promote clear sight lines, large panels of toughened, clear glass are used throughout the station structure. The authors note few reported problems of vandalism with these panels.
• The facility has 24-hour staff or security presence. Staff wear high visibility jackets and are supplied with panic alarms and two-way radios.
• A member of staff at the bus station is designated as ‘crime rep’. The station manager and the crime rep have regular meetings with the local police.
• Merseytravel have procedures in place for responding to and recording all incidents.
• A by-law in Birkenhead that prohibits drinking in a public place was extended to include the bus station.

Park Lane Bus Station, Sunderland 
(opened 1999)

• An office for staff and a canteen for drivers at the station provide additional surveillance and activity at the station.
• Attendants staff toilets during the day and evening.

Canning Town Bus station, East London 
(opened 1999)

• The positioning and number of CCTV cameras operating in the station is reviewed each year.
• When starting a shift, the bus station Controller checks the facility for any damage.

St Paul’s Bus Station, Walsall, West Midlands 
(opened 2000)

• The West Midlands police Architectural Liaison Officer was consulted at the design stage.
• Each bus bay has a Help Point, which provides for service information and emergency assistance. This Help Point is linked to a CCTV camera.
• A number of Customer Service Officers at the station provide information to passengers, undertake security duties and monitor bus activity in the station. The officers are all given conflict avoidance training.