The London Assembly has released a new report on crime and passenger safety on London’s buses. The report called Crime and disorder on London’s buses states that crime rates are higher than two years ago, at around 1 crime for every 50,000 passenger journeys, and makes a special metion on the levels of anti-social behaviour which it links to the Mayor of London introducing free bus travel for under 18s. Pickpocketing is also a problem.
I’ve heard some debate on the subject on the radio and anecdotally a lot of bus drivers and older passengers seem to be blaming the large groups of teenagers for the problems, with stealing mobile phones a prime motivation.
The report recommends among other things a greater uniformed security presence on the bus system as well as trying to bring in live streaming of pictures to control centres from the cameras that all buses already have. Personally I think a dedicated school bus system running for two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon offering the free rides to school kids would help while taking away the free travel on the regular buses.
Below are the top ten London bus routes with the most reported incidents from 2006-7.
1. Bus 38 Clapton Pond – Victoria
2. Bus 25 Oxford Circus – Ilford High Road
3. Bus 29 Wood Green Station – Trafalgar Square
4. Bus 73 Seven Sisters - Victoria
5. Bus 51 Orpington - Woolwich
6. Bus 149 Edmonton Green – London Bridge
7. Bus 18 Sudbury - Euston
8. Bus 5 Canning Town - Romford
9. Bus 8 Bow - Victoria
10. Bus 176 Oxford Circus - Penge
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This is very worrisome . . .and here I was thinking that London was one of the safest cities in the world.
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