Public Transit Technologies > Public Travel Security                  Printer-friendly version

• Public Travel Security (PTS) refers to security technologies deployed on transit vehicles and in stations to protect travelers.
• Examples include: Closed-Circuit Televisions (CCTV), call boxes/emergency phones, alarms.

Key Results

Passengers regard their safety as the agency's responsibility. An early study by Thrasher and Schnell (1971) concluded that the risk of being involved in a crime incident is at least twice as great in a transit system as in a private vehicle.After surveying 45 transit agencies, Needle et al. (1997) found that the five most frequently reported crimes are disorderly conduct, public drunkenness, fare evasion, theft and simple assault and battery. Only the last is a serious crime. This suggest that crime in transit systems is generally neither serious nor complicated.New technology, such as monitors and automatic alarms, can improve transit system security. The main technologies used are:

• CCTVs
• Call boxes/emergency phones
• Alarms
• Automated ticketing and fare systems.
• Automatic Vehicle Locations Systems (AVL)
• Pager systems alerting travelers of the next bus arrival

Other strategies to prevent or control crime include: patrol and security, design actions, media and information campaigns, transit service improvements, and increasing sanctions of offenders (Ingalls 1994, Wallace 1999). Measures for improving transit security are well received by the public. Levine and Wachs (1986) found strong support for financing bus crime prevention programs, preferably via higher fares. To date no evaluatory research has been conducted to formally assess the extent to which new technologies actually reduce or help prevent transit crime. However, the following potential impacts and benefits can be surmised:

Potential Travel Impacts

• Increased public transit use.

• Reduced crime and enhanced travel security.
• Reduced damage to facilities and vehicles.
• Increased transit use.

• Setting up new security technologies such as CCTV's and AVL.
• Security staff, training and equipment.

• Primarily in the United States but also on a more limited basis in Western Europe, Japan and Australia.

Author: Dimitri Loukakos