Security improvement in public transport

Summary

Public transport vehicles are occasionally subject to vandalism by passengers. Zagreb`s task was to identify black spots concerning security in public transport and to improve it.

Implementing sustainable mobility

There have been a number of incidents where public transport vehicles have been vandalised, for instance when football games take place. In addition several drivers have been assaulted. The majority of these incidents occur at night. To identify black spots and assess the safety and security situation within public transport a survey was carried out. This included consultation with ZET staff and citizens. The role of citizens was not limited to stating their concerns and they were also involved in developing concrete solutions.

Progress

CCTV cameras were installed in 214 new public transport vehicles within this measure. Apart from this, the vehicle cockpits were equipped with an SOS button for efficient dissemination of information about the security incidents between different stakeholders. Furthermore, educational workshops for citizens were organized on safe and secure usage of public transport. Finally, the PT drivers also went through an educational programme. They learned about the new security systems which were now a part of the new vehicles, as well as how to use them.

However, there was one deviation from the plan. Original description of the measure contained one more objective which was not achieved: to install CCTV system on PT stops. Due to the lack of finances this activity was altered into the installation of additional CCTV cameras in additional 40 older tram models.

Outcomes

• Reduction of the number of damaged vehicles was recorded. Specifically, total number of damaged vehicles was reduced by 40.5%; total number of damaged trams was reduced by 81.3%; total number of damaged buses was reduced by 15.4%.
• Reduction of the number of attacks toward PT employees was recorded: total number of attacks on ZET employees was reduced by 35.7% and total number of attacks on ZET bus drivers was reduced by 54.5%.
• The positive perception of general public was significantly increased by several criteria: I feel secure inside the vehicles (with or without other users), I feel secure while waiting on PT stops (with or without other users in vicinity) and Level of satisfaction with illumination at PT stops. However, we believe that a greater impact on public perception would have been possible if the plan had not been changed, i.e. if the PT stops were equipped with CCTV system. The conclusion is based on the fact that the percentage of unsatisfied visually impaired users increased in comparison to 2009, partly because no significant efforts were made to increase security at stops and this user group has specific needs.