Reports that crime is on the up are refuted by London Assembly
Conflicting reports regarding crime on local buses has led to confusion.
Some media claimed that the London Assembly’s report entitled ‘Crime and Disorder on London’s Buses’ showed an increase in incidents over the past year.
However, Roger Evans, chairman of the Assembly’s Transport Committee and TfL both refute this.
“Our report stated that crime on the bus network had declined over the last year but not enough to compensate for the sharp rise two years ago following the introduction of free travel for young people.” said Roger Evans “We welcomed much of TfL’s efforts and made a number of positive recommendations which we hope will be taken up.”
A spokesperson for TfL said, "We are confident that we will deliver a continued downward trend in the coming months and years".
Local newspaper, The Ealing Gazette reported that two of Ealing Borough’s routes – the 207 and 94 – were amongst the capital’s most crime ridden (see table below).
Again, this was denied by Roger Evans who said, “Neither of the routes you mention were in the most recent top ten for crime although they have been in previous years.”
Routes generating most driver incident reports |
||||
|
2006-07 |
2005-06 |
2004-05 |
2003-04 |
1 |
38 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
2 |
25 |
29 |
207 |
82 |
3 |
29 |
8 |
29 |
207 |
4 |
73 |
38 |
18 |
149 |
5 |
51 |
149 |
38 |
86 |
6 |
149 |
73 |
94 |
29 |
7 |
18 |
18 |
73 |
18 |
8 |
5 |
94 |
86 |
254 |
9 |
8 |
176 |
8 |
279 |
10 |
176 |
86 |
57 |
38 |
Source: TfL
The London Assembly’s full report can be seen at: http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/transport/crime-disorder-buses.pdf
January 25, 2008