Joint initiative announced to cut violence on public transport

Asbjørn Wahl, chair of ITF urban transport committee and Joe Kenny, chair of the UITP Commission on Business and HR Management, signing the agreement today.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) have unveiled plans to reduce violence on public transport.

Asbjørn Wahl, chair of ITF urban transport committee and Joe Kenny, chair of the UITP Commission on Business and HR Management, signing the agreement today.

According to the ITF an agreement was established to improve dialogue between social partners – employers and trade unions – that recognise their common interest in minimising violence and insecurity, building trust and mutual respect, ensuring transparency and promoting a no blame policy so that there are no barriers to reporting incidents. It was agreed that investigating the root cause of an incident is essential.

Joe Kenny, chair of the UITP Commission on Business and HR Management, commented: “Urban transport should be safe for all users, staff and passengers alike. Yet they can find themselves at risk of assault, abuse, vandalism and anti-social behaviour. Today we have set out ways for transport companies and unions to get together and minimise and prevent such acts of violence, as well as on how to act should they occur.”

Asbjørn Wahl, chair of ITF urban transport committee, added: “The ITF and UITP have pledged to uphold the basic right of transport workers and transport passengers to live, work and travel in safety, free from assault or the threat of assault and all other forms of behaviour that may compromise their security and safety.”

A number of recommendations were outlined in order to tackle violence and the threat of violence. They include, Reporting procedures for collecting information, how to act on reports and collected information, organisation of the transport service in relation to incidents of violence, technology and design to reduce the threat, human resources, recovery, finding the right balance to prevent incidents/acting in response to incidents, dialogue with the civil authorities (local government, media, police and judiciary) and encouraging the participation of stakeholders.

The joint initiative concluded: ‘It is only by all agencies cooperating to guarantee the safety and security of employees and passengers alike that we can achieve a safe efficient and reliable public transport system that is attractive to the citizens to use and that can perform its function of safe sustainable transport for the well-being of the urban environment and all who live in it.’