PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND CRIME

Public transport affects crime rates in neighbourhoods close to it. It can give criminals easier access to their targets and decrease the chance of getting caught. On the other hand, it can give lower-income people better access to transport, and this can decrease the chance of these people committing a crime.

There was a study in the City of Cleveland in the US. In this study, they analysed data after 2008, when the City made a bus line available for the residents of a neighbourhood. The study wanted to prove that there is a difference in the crime rate before and after the City made the bus line available. Not surprisingly, the findings were that the bus line caused an increase in property crime rate, such as burglary, by about 1.4%.

This provides evidence that public transport does in fact increase crime rates in areas surrounding it. However, this study shows the crime rate in a short period of time. We need more studies to see how public transport affects the crime rate in the long run.