(10 Sep 2021, 3:44 pm)54APhotography wrote Whilst the battle to win passengers is a huge one for the public relations teams, there is one major problem, that is beyond their control.
Anti-Social behaviour. From playing music and watching clips at full volume without any respect. Loud, leary behaviour. Violence towards the driver and passengers. Drunken loutish behaviour (which is all day now, not at 10pm onwards).
The collapse of any respect and manners in society is no more acutely visible and audible as that when you are on public transport, bus, tram, train.
The vast majority of passengers have to put up with that, and at night it is extremely intimidating . On the odd occasion I've used public transport this year, I've had to challenge three people. Few will stand up and do so, those who can will use car or taxi. I suspect everyone sees this going on on buses.
The bus and other transport companies can't do a lot to stop this, and it is worse now that ever.
I don't see it as much during the day, but I have seen it quite a bit after dusk. I've also been on the odd train, especially in the evening/at night, where its been full of piss heads. I find that quite intimidating, and can only imagine the train managers do too, as they're usually never to be seen.
Anti-Social behaviour is a problem everywhere, and it feels like it's getting worse and worse, with little resource to tackle it. Whilst I think operators could be a bit more proactive about it, such as actively reporting ASB before it ends up in a window being put out, a lot of it comes down to local authorities and police.. They're continuing fighting a losing battle in reactively dealing with incidents, when really we need to start educate people correctly in the first place and dealing with people properly before they become a 'repeat offender'
Passengers not feeling safe can be a huge barrier to public transport, especially for women and those more vulnerable. I hope that the importance of this is dealt with in any upcoming Bus Service Improvement Plan.