Tyne Design Week - Safety and security on public transport, focused on Tyne & Wear Metro
Safety of girls, women, and vulnerable people on public transport - Matt Godwin
Nexus is the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive and operates the Tyne and Wear Metro and the Shields Ferry. Nexus provides, plan and promote public transport to improve the economic prosperity of North East England and the daily lives of its people. Nexus focuses on making travel save, accessible and affordable along with leading on transport projects and innovation across the network and delivers services to Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, North Tyneside and South Tyneside. Nexus enables millions of journeys and connects people to home and work.
Safety of women, girls and vulnerable people on public transport is a universal issue where harassment and fear on public transport affecting women and vulnerable people worldwide. There is a barrier to equality where unsafe transport limits access to jobs, education, and healthcare especially for those without alternatives. Public systems are undermined when users don't feel safe as they stop using transit which affects sustainability and inclusion goals. Addressing safety aligns with international goals on gender equality, accessibility and inclusive development and solutions can scale where innovations in design, tech and policy can be shared and adapted across cities worldwide. Safety is a universal issue and not being able to access safe travel is a real barrier to entry. This is not unique to this region but across the country and world and we all need to play our part to make an inclusive environment. Nexus is looking at things that work across all stations to feel more safe and secure and travel safely.
There are benefits for all with an inclusive, safe design hat helps everyone from parents with prams to older or disabled users and access creates opportunity as without safe transport people face barriers to work, education and healthcare. A safer system increased public confidence and long-term Metro usage plus safety and inclusion are key priorities in regional and national funding opportunities. It is all about access to opportunity for work, education and healthcare and having a safe and secure network builds trust and if don't have a safe system then people won't feel comfortable. There are funding opportunities to be able to take some of the ideas and look at trying them or implement them.
Women, girls and individuals living with disabilities are at a higher risk as these groups face more harassment and feel less safe using public transport, especially at night. Most incidents go unreported which hides the true scale of the problem and limits targeted action. Perception shapes use where fear, not just actual risk, leads to avoidance of public transport and limits freedom. Women, girls and individuals with disabilities are high risk group and the amount of people who think Metro isn't safe or secure has trebled.
Gateshead Interchange is a major Metro and bus connection point, busy, complex and used by a wide range of people daily including school children, carers, disabled passengers and shift workers with limited travel alternatives. Design challenges include underpasses, hidden corners and platform layouts that can feel threatening and make surveillance difficult. Perception of safety affects patronage as if people don't feel save here, they don't feel safe and avoid the stational altogether which affects overall Metro usage and trust in the system. Gateshead is a big station, and people must navigate through various layers even for people who are familiar due to timetable changes this can be difficult.
Challenge areas include environmental and infrastructure challenges such as pool lighting, isolated layouts and neglected spaces like underpasses and poorly looked after stations can create a sense of danger, especially at night. Limited CCTV visibility and unclear signage reduces trust in safety measures that leads many, particularly women, to avoid public transport after dark. Another challenge area is social and demographic inequalities where marginalised groups such as young women, disabled users, ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ individuals face greater risks and barriers to safe travel and disabled people often rely on others due to poor accessibility along with these overlapping vulnerabilities increasing fear rather than convenience. Challenge areas also include perception gaps and behaviour norms where harassment like catcalling is often normalised and bystanders rarely act or many lack awareness of what's unacceptable, also even when crime is low women often feel unsafe, and this disconnect combines with limited data makes it harder to develop effective and inclusive solutions.
Solution areas for accessibility and inclusive design to create inclusive transport environments though tactile wayfinding, accessible seating, shelters along with tailored services plus universal design and safe access routes are vital particularly for complex, multi-stop journeys. Another solution area is smart technology and digital safety tools where can use tech to improve safety through real-time alerts, help points, smart CCTV and crowdsourced safe route tools but new or creative ideas beyond these existing tools are encouraged. Solution areas also include environmental design and place-based infrastructure enhancing safety and comfort through better lighting, visibility and upkeep along with reimagining unused spaces and introducing passive surveillance features can create more welcoming environments. Another solution area is cultural change and public awareness by shifting norms though public campaigns, education on consent and bystander training along with engaging men as allies and promoting respectful behaviour are key to long-term change.
Design-led Activities Workshop
Design-led Activities Workshop included choosing then going through personas including Mia, a young girl who wants to travel to and from school safely on her own, wants to understand what to do if something feels wrong along with feel safe and confident enough to be independent. Another persona was Chloe, a young woman who wanted to minimise risk during late-night travel, feel prepared and in control of her surroundings and avoid encounters that made her feel unsafe or exposed. Beth, a disabled woman was another persona who wanted to access and navigate the station independently, feel respected and safe without relying on others along with trust that support is available and inclusive when needed. Aisha, a single mother who wanted to get through the station safely with her children and belongings along with reducing the number of stops was the final persona. Once selecting a user's journey would review these individually to highlight the key elements that create friction for the user then write down challenges that the users face during their journey when using the space at Gateshead Interchange then discuss these challenges, any barriers along with solutions.
I joined the team for Chloe's User Journey which was their user experience before with journey planning and preparation was that she would pick the safest rather than the fastest as they always planned their trip around risk rather than time. Their user experience before when approaching the station was to hold their keys tight and fake a phone call as they didn't trust a particular entrance at night along with on entering the station they felt it was too quiet although did see CCTV they wondered if anyone was actually watching. Their user experience during their time at the station when finding the right platform was they felt exposed and had already mapped an escape route just in case, then when waiting on the platform felt this was the worst part as they were alone, it was quiet, and every sound makes them flinch, so they keep their back to the wall. Her user experience during their time in transport was that she felt someone sat too close and they wanted to move but wondered if that would make things worse with him. Her user experience after when exiting transport was they would hover by the door early and want to be the first out and back in public view, when changing transport or platform they felt transfers felt like weak spots as it is often dark or empty and they lose their sense of control and when exiting the station they follow their usual safe route and still check behind them, just in case.
Barriers our team identified for Chloe for her user experience before entering Gateshead Interchange included lack of clear street signage with lack of yellow Metro sign outside and insider poor wayfinding, wondering if there would be staff present, poor lighting, seeing where to walk or where to find platforms along with being unsure or uncomfortable about seeing people at touch points to the platform. Solutions to these barriers included a café where people could go and feel safe and be a welcoming space along with popup businesses or even coworking spaces and podcast studios plus improved colour coded navigation or signage, improved lighting and who's on duty screen at entrance and on platforms.
Barriers identified for Chloe during her user experience in Gateshead Interchange included carriage finding, knowing where help is, where to sit on the train, somewhere they can wait other than the platform, not knowing what to do if they encounter and issue and feeling unsafe and having to share the space. Solutions to these included Wi-Fi or improved mobile signal, better advertising of "say it / sort it" style messaging, attracting more shops or businesses, multiple route information and making the station more open plan and less corridors or corners.
Barriers for Chloe's user experience after included lack of clear signs for exit routes, lighting to correctly assess situation, wayfinding, lack of natural light, no links outside the platform with solutions including QR Code for entry / exit routes and onward plans, station maps, organisational data collection or sharing, information points starting from platform itself and announcements in station along with better lighting.
Ideas to help with challenges from poor visibility to safety concerns were for adaptable lighting based on surrounding with natural environmental light with key features including automatic light brightness adjustment or buttons to press in case or emergency that changes lighting of that area with unique selling points that now every area has to be brightly lit and depends on the time of day or season and has ability to adapt accordingly. Another idea was to help with the challenge of perception of an unsafe space due to low footprint with the idea of co-working spaces, podcast studios, pop-up stuff or cares to increase footprint and provide a safe and intermediate space for visitors with key features being a bright, warm and welcoming space potentially located on the first-floor entrance.
More ideas to help with challenges when missing trains or when in train carriage was to have better information on approaching trains including direction train is moving, which areas are busy or not with key features including live information and train direction indicators helping unfamiliar users feel safe. Accessibility and confidence or looking confident in where you are going was another challenge with the idea to have less entrances with Bus / Metro separation with colour coding for less confusion. Another idea for the challenge of who to report to when there is an issue was to have an approach similar to the British Transport Polics See it, Say it, Report it with either telephone or text to control room not only for incident reporting but also for environmental issues such as broken windows, graffiti, litter or lighting issues which would be part of network wide advertisements on trains, concourse and entrances so number can be easily found with the key feature being improved safety or feelings of safety.
Other ideas to help included wayfinding and signage with QR codes on trains and station entries which can show directions with support for online and offline content along with idea for antisocial behaviour and crime which was to have barriers at entrance and improved ability to tap and tap out with Debit / Credit cards with key feature being there is a link between fare evasion and antisocial behaviour or crime which would help reduce incidents and increase passenger confidence. Finally, another idea was the perception of negativity with social media and public campaign to show changes made, better advertise any improvements and could have a meet the team / avatar or "come to work with me" approach.