INTEGRATING CRIME AND FEAR OF CRIME WITH

TRANSPORT AND ACCESSIBILITY IMPROVEMENTS IN DEPRIVED

AREAS IN THE UK

JOANNA MACHIN

Transport Studies Group

University of Westminster

Building SupportCrime, fear of crime and accessibility

Why crime and fear of crime is important

Testing ways to identify ‘hotspots’ where crime and fear of crime might act as a barrier to public transport use

Developing measures and interventions to address crime and fear of crime

Developing ways to monitor the effectiveness of measures

Fear for personal safety affects travel decisions

Higher fear levels and dependency on public transport in deprived areas

Improving personal security on and around public transport could increase number of trips by 11.6%

Why is crime and fear of crime important?

Middlesbrough

Tackling crime and fear of crime is a high political priority in Middlesbrough

High crime rates but declining

Partnership with crime reduction agencies is essential:

- access to information and data- implementation of effective

measures Collect and analyse appropriate datasets:

- reported crime and disorder data- vandalism/damage data - fear of crime surveys

Assessing crime and fear of crime

Hotspots of disorder incidents and bus stop locations in Middlesbrough

2 0 2 4 Miles

Number of incidents

30 - 70

71 - 110

111 - 150

151 +

© Crown Copyright Ordnance Survey

Bus shelter damage in Middlesbrough

Number of shelters damaged

• 1- 2

• 3 - 4

• 5 - 6

• 7 - 9

© Crown Copyright Ordnance Survey

How_safe_is_your_neighbourhoodAll respondents

4 - Very Unsafe3 - A bit unsafe2 - Fairly Safe1 = Very Safe

Produced by Derek Halden Consultancy Ltd

Fear of crime in Middlesbrough

How Safe is your neighbourhood?Respondents Over 65 Years of Age

5 - Never walk alone at night4 - Very Unsafe3 - A bit unsafe2 - Fairly Safe1 - Very Safe

Produced by Derek Halden Consultancy Ltd

Fear of crime in Middlesbrough

Bus and train related incident data Bus surveys Focus groups

Other useful datasets

Need to work closely with other agencies and service providers

Consider the wide range of potential options from law enforcement to improved environmental design

Assess current and potential resources available

Developing and appraising the options

Targeted fear of crime surveys- household/population surveys- bus surveys- focus groups

Number of public transport trips

Monitoring

Important to consider impact of crime and fear of crime on accessibility

Accessibility planning process should integrate crime and fear of crime issues where appropriate

Partnership working when collecting data, appraising options and monitoring is essential

Conclusions