Crime and public transport : designing a safer journey

Abstract

Paper presented at the 26th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9 - 12 July 2007 "The challenges of implementing policy?", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. ABSTRACT:One of the major concerns of the majority of South Africans is the relatively high levels of crime. The transport sector faces its own set of challenges in this regard. For instance, the fact that the majority of poorer people stay relatively far away from their places of employment requires them to spend a considerable amount of time travelling. Commuters are very vulnerable to crime during these journeys. They are exposed to being victimised on buses, trains or minibus taxis, while changing from one mode of transport to another at stations, or when walking from drop-off points to their places of work or to their homes. This paper addresses issues related to transport and security with a particular focus on the role that the physical environment plays in increasing or reducing opportunities for crime. The focus is on crime problems on public transport and the use of specific planning and design interventions to reduce crime in the South African context.