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The Issue
National research from the Department for Transport report 'Young People and Crime on Public Transport' shows:

• British Transport Police estimate that 90% of acts of vandalism were committed by young people
• 49% of young people aged over 15 had seen other young people acting in a rowdy or noisy manner on a bus or train and 63% of this same age group had seen young people hanging around a bus or train station in the past year
• 44% of 13 and 14 year olds said a driver had been rude to them in the past year

Other national figures on offending patterns show:

• The MORI Youth Survey 2002 for the Youth Justice Board showed 26% of school pupils had committed an offence in the last year which rose to 64% for excluded pupils
• The same survey showed 71% of school children had been a victim of an offence committed by someone under 18 in the last year
• The 2002 British Crime Survey showed that 16% of young men aged 16-24 had been a victim of a violent offence in the past year

Additionally the action planning seminars and consultation highlighted the following issues:

• Intimidation, especially by gangs of young people which can also be related to tribalism
• Assaults on staff
• Railway route crime
• Criminal damage including graffiti
• Problems on school services including overcrowding with the lack of capacity to carry young people, anti-social behaviour, verbal abuse, tampering with emergency exits

However, it was also recognised that young people are not always the cause of problems but they have problems themselves. The following were highlighted:

• Lack of youth provision
• Young people are all treated the same when it is only a minority that cause the problem
• Young people are often the victims of incidents
• Young people do not feel valued
• Young people are customers of tomorrow
• Young people do not see public transport as being 'exciting'

Strategic Aims

• Involvement of young people increased
• Once an accurate figure has been developed, reported incidents of youth disorder reduced
• Once an accurate figure has been developed, reported incidents of disorder on school services reduced

Possible Actions

• Increase awareness of the consequences of actions including developing a mobile roadshow in problematic areas and times of the year potentially in partnership with Merseyside Fire Service
• Develop a mobile vehicle with detached youth workers as a way of allowing young people to socialise
• Ensure that education schemes developed are joined up across all transport types including using Crucial Crews, the citizenship agenda and raising awareness of how public transport is funded
• Developing use of reparation schemes for young offenders on public transport
• Developing a responsible school travel scheme - the TravelSafe Mark
• Ensuring true involvement of young people and making sure their suggestions are acted upon including forming a Young Person's Forum
• Spread use of art schemes to be displayed at rail and bus stations leading onto moves to 'adopt a station'
• Continue to promote training programmes for transport staff covering topics including conflict resolution and customer care