20
Mar

2011

Sunday Statshot with Nick Chu

Post by Gondola Project

A quick look at some of the things that make your city’s transit system work (or not)

Transit Safety and Crime:

Businesses unhappy over perceived/real crimes along Portland MAX lines. image by Lester Of Puppets

% of Canadians feel safe walking alone in neighbourhood after dark: 90

% of Canadians not worried using public transit alone after dark: 57

% of women not worried: 42

Land uses attracting crime near transit stations: Schools, bars, liquor stores, pawnshops, abandoned buildings

% of crime incidents occurring on transit vehicles: 22

% in transit stations: 36

% nearby transit station: 42

Number 1 type of crime on transit: Disorderly conduct

Number of transit passenger fatalities in US per year: 230

Pedestrian fatalities: 4100

Passenger car fatalities: 13,100

% of total transportation fatalities related to transit: 0.61

Number of crime incidents on Translink (Vancouver) system: 3500

Number of transit officers in Vancouver: 169

Number of crime incidents on Toronto Transit Commission (TTC): 3800

Number of TTC special constables: 95

Trips per year on Translink: 348 million

Trips per year on TTC: 460 million

Odds of being crime victim/offender on TTC: 1 in 121,000

Odds of being killed in a car crash: 1 in 5000

Extra ridership generated if public transit made safer: 10.5%

Solution?: Classical music

% decrease for police service calls nearby classical music transit stations: 40



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Sunday Statshot
6
Comments

Comments

  1. Sean Turvey
    March 20, 2011 – 8:54 am
    The vast majority of Skytrain's crimes are fare evasion. Translink has a policy of trust. At the moment there are no gates to ensure honesty. They will install them by 2013. You can hop on the Skytrain all day and never have to prove you paid. Buses are similar, Theoretically the only thing a driver can do if you do not produce proof of fare is to call the transit police (which after hundreds of hours of sitting at the front I have yet to witness). The only fare enforcement is teams of two police standing at the "fare paid zone" checking for proof or spot checks on Skytrain. This is completely random so most of the time there is no enforcement. The people who are caught at stations have to be pretty stupid. The police are located in plain site. The evader only has to turn around before reaching them and pay the fare from a distance. The Canada Line even has signs which are posted by the ticket vending machines when a fare check is in effect. It amazes me to see people get caught.
  2. Sean Turvey
    March 20, 2011 – 9:05 am
    On an average round trip, I usually witness 1-2 people being charged for evasion. That would equate to (365* 1.5)=548 of the crimes. That is just one witness making two trips per day.
  3. Mono
    March 20, 2011 – 10:08 am
    After experiencing the warmth, kind-heartedness and friendliness of Vancouverites, I can't ever imagine any of them evading fares!
  4. Drew Snider
    March 21, 2011 – 8:20 am
    Very interesting stats, but I'm curious: what's the time frame for the number of crimes on transit that you cite? As for the fare evasion question, the "trust" policy you mention, Sean, has had more pluses than minuses, when you consider ease of loading/unloading and accessibility for persons with disabilities. Also, every audit that we did -- internal and external -- indicated the evasion rate and the amount of "leakage" were not significant enough to warrant installing gates. But times change and you may have seen a whole lot more fare-checks in the past few weeks. Interestingly, when PricewaterhouseCoopers did an audit of fare evasion in the fall of 2007, the report stated that many people appear to try to duck paying their fare because they've heard in the media that fare evasion is "rampant" so they figure "everyone else does it so why shouldn't I?" (you can find that report on the TransLink website).
  5. Mono
    March 21, 2011 – 12:12 pm
    @ Drew Having read the article, they are yearly figures. In other news, Toronto is stepping up on fare evasion too! http://www.thestar.com/news/transportation/article/955909--ttc-targets-farebox-cheaters
  6. Sean Turvey
    March 21, 2011 – 4:59 pm
    For those who do not know, Drew Snider is Translink's spokesperson. @ Drew I must say, I have always been proud that we have a system based on trust. It is really a shame that we must move (imo) backwards to a gated system. I do love the idea of the smart cards though. I have never felt unsafe on any Translink vehicle or property though I have run into some pretty interesting characters outside of NW stn. Even though it is still in the construction phase Plaza 88 already seems to helping greatly with that. While I have you on a blog of urban gondola enthusiasts, what would it take to get you to leak something about the CH2M Hill Bby Mtn study?

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