This week Transport for London is stepping up to tackle an important issue: keeping women and girls safe while using public transport. A new trial will see CCTV cameras installed at 20 bus shelters across London, with the aim of helping everyone feel more secure, especially when traveling alone at night.
The specially designed cameras are equipped to actively prevent and detect crime. The Metropolitan Police will have live access to the feeds, meaning they can act quickly if something goes wrong. This is all part of TfL’s larger mission to create a safe and welcoming transport network for everyone.
Siwan Hayward, TfL’s Director of Security, Policing, and Enforcement, emphasised just how important this is: ‘We want women and girls to be safe and feel safe,’ she said. And she’s right! Research has shown that many women feel uneasy while waiting for buses, especially when it’s dark or quiet. With these cameras in place, TfL hopes to reduce those anxieties.
The locations for TfL’s cameras have been chosen carefully. They’re going into busy areas and quieter spots where people have reported feeling unsafe.
On top of that, to mark White Ribbon Day (which aims to stop male violence against women and girls, and which was on November 25), TfL partnered with football clubs Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham and Crystal Palace to spread the message about male violence against women. The clubs’ players will be sharing messages about bystander interventions over the next couple of weeks, and you’ll also see white ribbons and new lighting on some of TfL’s trains and trams, all in support of this important cause.
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