Driver as flashpoint: Designing out crime in the Australian urban bus transport sector

Urban bus drivers deal daily with antisocial behaviours, property damage and the potential for violent assaults. One British study reported that the majority (73%) of all public transport related violence is linked to buses (Burrell, 2007) and there are suggestions that serious incidents are increasing (Moore, 2010; Smith & Cornish, 2006). In general public transport workers experience assault more than many other occupations (Violence at Work, 2003) and are found to have among the highest rates of mortality, morbidity and absenteeism (Chen & Cunradi, 2008; Evans & Johansson, 1998).//While there is some international literature on which to draw and some attention has been paid to crime prevention techniques related to trains and taxis (Mayhew, 2000), the Australian situation with respect to bus drivers is woefully under-researched (Biggs et. al., 2009; Easteal & Wilson, 1991).// The present paper reports recent collaborations with representatives from transport, government and transport unions in Southeast Queensland. The project is in its preliminary stages but endeavours to address this absence of data, outline a program of research intended to inform key crime prevention options and devise an implementation and evaluation strategy (Smith & Cornish, 2006).