Making London’s transport safer

Reducing crime and fear of crime

Despite low crime levels on public transport, fear of crime and antisocial behaviour remain barriers to travel for some people. The Mayor is reducing the rate of crime and the fear of crime on our transport network through better policing. We are focusing on times and places when people feel particularly vulnerable, for example, at night.

We have deployed more than 2,500 uniformed officers, to provide a visible police presence on the transport network and we have also introduced 32 Hub Teams of more than 400 uniformed officers to work alongside the borough Safer Transport Teams to tackle crime and disorder. Careful design and better use of lighting and CCTV also improve surveillance and make people feel safer.

In order to reduce antisocial behaviour and crime on London’s transport the Mayor has introduced a ban on the consumption or carrying of alcohol in open containers.

Improving road safety

The number of people being killed or seriously injured on London’s roads has fallen by more than 45% since 1998.

The Mayor is working with the boroughs and police to further improve road safety for all communities in London. In July 2009, he endorsed the European Road Safety Charter. The focus here includes better designed streets to make the roads physically safer, particularly for vulnerable users such as pedestrians and cyclists.

Whilst cycling on London’s major roads has increased by 107% between 2000 and 2008, the general trend for cycling casualties has fallen, with cycling collisions down by 27% since the mid to late 1990s. However, the Mayor wants to make cycling safer. He has recently published his Cycle Safety Action Plan, which sets out how this can be done in London. It draws on recent experience in cycling growth in the Capital and knowledge about what is needed to improve safety.

Improving public transport safety

Public transport in London is already safe and injury rates are low. We are working with partners to maintain and improve safety and security on public transport, in order to reduce injury rates.