PUBLIC FEAR OF CRIME AND ITS ROLE IN BUS TRANSIT USE

Information about how personal safety concerns influence bus transit use in smaller cities is not readily available. Bus riders and residents in Greensboro, North Carolina, were surveyed in April 1993 to determine attitudes, ridership levels, and motivations for choice. It was found that most riders are frequent users, but residents rarely ride. Resident concerns about personal safety were two to three times greater than riders' concerns, but both groups were less concerned about personal safety on or near the bus system than about general safety in the community. Residents were most fearful of activities in downtown Greensboro. Both residents and riders saw the major bus-related problems as disorderly conduct, drunkenness, and panhandling. Residents and riders feel safest at home and in their neighborhoods. Only a few residents or riders have personally experienced a crime problem in the last 2 years. Generally, blacks, whites, men, and women all experienced similar concerns: the big difference was between riders and residents (generally nonusers of the service). More than 50% of residents take precautions to protect personal safety, primarily avoiding drunken people, strange-looking people, groups of teenagers, and travel alone or after dark. Women take more precausions than men. But reduced concerns about safety would not increase bus ridership as much as basic service improvements. It is concluded that image links between bus service and perceived high-crime areas such as downtowns are major deterrents to increased ridership, even though bus service itself is perceived as quite safe.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1994/1433/1433-026.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=PUBLIC+FEAR+OF+CRIME+AND+ITS+ROLE+IN+BUS+TRANSIT+USE&author=G.+Ingalls&author=D.+Hartgen&author=T.+Owens&publication_year=1994
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309055105
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1433, Public Transportation: Bus, Rail, Ridesharing, Paratransit Services, and Transit Security. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Ingalls, Gerald L
  • Hartgen, David T
  • Owens, Timothy W
• Publication Date: 1994

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 201-211
• Monograph Title: Public transportation: bus, rail, ridesharing, paratransit services, and transit security
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1433
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Attitudes; Bus transit; Central business districts; Crimes; Data collection; Improvements; Intoxication; Level of service; Motivation; Passengers; Residents; Ridership; Safety; Small cities; Surveys
• Geographic Terms: Greensboro (North Carolina)
• Old TRIS Terms: Disorderly conduct; Panhandling
• Subject Areas: Highways; Passenger Transportation; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00667638
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309055105
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Oct 7 1994 12:00AM