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existing surveillance system were provided by the Transit- went toward the most recent upgrading of the system, which
Secure Program. also included funds for enhanced lighting and helped to pay
for retrofitting that was in progress when the funds were dis-
All Calgary Transit (locally referred to as CTrain) sta- tributed. With the system introduced in 2008, cameras are
tions and platforms are under 24-hour surveillance by more able to transmit three video feeds per station--the inbound
than 350-cameras located throughout the system. Stations and outbound platforms and the lobby. The project is labor
and platforms are also equipped with emergency telephones intensive; 6 employees administer it, including managing
(called HELP phones in Calgary). Video monitors are who may access the system, and 18 employees were trained
viewed by staff members who have the ability to contact the in system maintenance.
system's uniformed peace officers. In 2008, following a mur-
der of a woman who was stalked aboard a train and followed Just as it has consistently upgraded its surveillance cam-
home, Calgary Transit doubled its staff of peace officers to era network, TransLink has seen a need to upgrade its human
65. Although the officers do not have full police powers, security network. Although SkyTrain initially was patrolled
they are authorized to enforce a number of municipal bylaws by Transit Special Constables, in December 2005 TransLink
(Stelter 2009). Similar to a number of states in the United created the South Coast BC Transportation Authority Police
States, the major difference between peace officers and Service to allow officers to pursue a suspect outside the tran-
police officers is that peace officers cannot conduct inves- sit agency's property and to coordinate their activities more
tigations but may take actions for a limited number of situ- fully with local police.
ations that occur in their presence; they also receive fewer
hours of training. Also in 2008, with funds provided through
the Transit-Secure Program, Calgary installed a dozen pan- VIDEO SURVEILLANCE AND PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF
tilt-zoom cameras at selected locations to provide improved SAFETY AND SECURITY
surveillance capabilities. A parking fee was also instituted to
generate funds dedicated to enhancing the safety, security, The TTC/METRAC study was in the forefront of research
and cleanliness of the transit system. that determined that the public's perception of whether tran-
sit facilities are safe can affect decisions that will impact
British Columbia TransLink ridership. This is particularly true in parts of the country
where the decision to use public transportation or to drive
The Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority (Trans- is a discretionary one. Many riders of the nation's largest
Link) is a complex transit system that has come to rely transit systems may have few other commuting options as a
heavily on video surveillance, particularly since the Win- result of traffic congestion and the inadequate parking facili-
ter Olympics in 2010. Because the system spreads out from ties in the central business districts, but in other parts of the
the city itself, TransLink covers the largest geographic area country the decision to use the transit system is based on a
of any North American transit system. It comprises more number of factors. Research has shown that safety and secu-
than 1,000 square miles (1,800 square kilometers), travels rity play a large role in the decision, particularly for women.
through 17 municipalities, and in 2007 served more than 165
million passengers. SkyTrain, a subsidiary of SkyLink, is a Today, the TTC/METRAC finding that women are
fully automated, 49.5 km (about 31 miles) light rail system more fearful of crime than men is commonly accepted by
with 33 stations that links downtown Vancouver with a num- researchers and police executives. Related findings by Mar-
ber of its larger residential suburbs. Built in 1986 to serve the garet T. Gordon and Stephanie Riger (1989) were explained
World's Fair held in Vancouver, it is the longest automated by criminological theories discussed by Dorothy M. Schulz
light rail system in the world. Like a number of the newer and Susan Gilbert (1996) at the FHWA's second national
light rail systems, SkyTrain included a surveillance system conference on women's travel issues and more recently by
when it began revenue operations. When the system was Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Amanda Bornstein, Camille
expanded in 2000, the IT network was upgraded to expand Fink, Linda Samuels, and Shanin Gerami (2009). These
beyond the 850 analog cameras that recorded around the theories of crime and fear have influenced decisions by
clock, with feeds sent from each station to a central control transit systems on a number of security measures, including
center where images were recorded and stored. enhanced use of video surveillance systems.
Similar to the synthesis case study involving Metro Tran- Opportunity theory, advanced in the late 1970s by
sit in Minneapolis, Minnesota (see chapter five), experiences Lawrence E. Cohen and Marvin Felson (1979), stated that
in British Columbia reinforce that even a modern surveil- offenders will commit crimes where there are suitable tar-
lance system requires frequent upgrading. By 2005, the net- gets and an absence of protection. This theory played a large
work was not considered large enough to handle the amount role in the expansion of CPTED as a way to use the physi-
of video that was being generated (Anderson 2008). Almost cal facility itself to create a more protected environment.
CAD$10 million of Transit-Secure funds distributed in 2006 Derek B. Cornish and Ronald V. Clarke (1986) extended
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the theory by introducing the concept of "rational choice," as reflecting the crime and disorder in the neighborhood
which stated that offenders are rational, self-serving indi- (Loukaitus-Sideris et al. 2009). These groups are often the
viduals who will weigh the benefits and risks of commit- most transit dependent because they lack access to a pri-
ting a crime in a particular place at a particular time. The vate vehicle.
benefits of a particular location are the presence of a victim
and the ability to commit a criminal act and escape unseen. Preventing "Broken Windows"
The risks include being observed or being unable to escape.
Many patrons view transit as providing a number of the ben- These findings on fear of transit crime support a more
efits criminals consider. Specifically, the patrons view them- general theory of crime prevention that applies not only to
selves as available victims and they view the transit system women but to all potential transit patrons. This so-called bro-
itself as providing hiding places. Because they may not see ken windows theory, popularized by criminologists James
a police presence, they estimate the possibility of the cap- Q. Wilson and George Kelling (1982), posits that a broken
ture of their victimizer as low. Unfortunately, criminals may window that is not repaired sends a message that a facility
see the same cost-benefit analysis and act accordingly. But is uncared for and thereby presents a target for disorderly or
electronic video surveillance systems change the equation. criminal behavior. In this theory, any sign of neglect, such
They increase the risk of being observed; an offender might as graffiti or scratchiti, or even an overflowing trash bin, has
be observed and actually caught before fleeing, or his or her the same effect.
image may be caught to use for retroactive investigation and
subsequent arrest. In addition, Wilson and Kelling theorized that disorder
creates fear in those who live nearby or must use those facili-
Women and the Fear of Victimization ties and that the areas eventually attract sex-traders, drug
addicts, and noisy youths who make the facility even less
Women's higher fears of victimization are based on their desirable to others. When those who are unable to shun the
generally facing higher levels of stranger violence (Young facility make use of it, they, too, begin to contribute to its
1992), and according to Richard B. Felson (1996) their fears disorder; they believe there is little chance their behavior
are generally correct. Because they are often smaller than will be penalized because there appears to be no respon-
their aggressor might be, they are more likely to be the targets sible authority over the location. This is part of the reason
of random violence in public spaces. Women interviewed by to make public address announcements reminding patrons
Loukaitus-Sideris and colleagues as part of an MTI study on of the consequences of even modest misconduct. It sends a
easing women's fears of transportation environments (2009) message to all in hearing distance that the location is being
found that women believed that as a group they had distinct monitored and that someone is in charge and is responsible.
safety/security needs and that despite improvements in tran- Even with announcements, a facility may have reached such
sit security, they were often fearful of transit settings. Echo- a state of neglect that it may require not only CPTED rede-
ing the earlier TTC/METRAC findings, these fears often led sign but also uniformed patrol presence until it is restored
women to adjust their behavior and travel patterns and/or to an orderly condition. Once order is re-established, vis-
avoid certain travel modes and settings at certain times. For ible video surveillance with appropriate signage indicating
transit agencies, this translates into lost revenue. But despite its presence and public address announcements reinforcing
this finding, the MTI researchers also found that only a small this signage can help assuring patrons that a certain level
number of U.S. transit agencies had programs that targeted of safety, security, and orderliness has been established and
the safety and security needs of women riders. Although will be maintained.
most systems agreed that women had distinct safety and
security needs, only a third of those surveyed believed that Transit agencies' efforts to redesign stations to allay
agencies should put specific programs into place to address these fears and, particularly since September 11, 2001,
these needs. to add video surveillance systems to public areas have
addressed some but not all of these fears. Studies in Not-
Jerome A. Needle and Renée M. Cobb in a TCRP tingham, England, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, found that
study entitled Improving Transit Security (1997) found patrons felt only moderately safer with the knowledge that
that fear and anxiety about personal security were impor- cameras were watching. In England, focus groups com-
tant detractors from using public transit for all potential posed of women stated that they did not feel more secure
patrons, not only women. Although gender has emerged knowing that "someone, somewhere is supposed to be
as the most significant factor related to fear of crime and watching them" (Trench et al. 1992), and the Michigan
victimization in transit environments, other studies, not all study found that although surveillance cameras were the
conducted in the United States, have found that fears are most noticed of the security improvements implemented,
also more pronounced among the elderly, certain ethnic they did not have a significant impact on passengers' feel-
groups, and low-income people, who typically live in high- ings of safety (Wallace et al. 1999). Yet because so many
crime neighborhoods and may see their local transit station of the studies in the United Kingdom and the United States
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are based on small samples or individual locations, the question, electronic video surveillance has come to pre-
true effect video surveillance has on patron perception of dominate in crime and terrorist prevention efforts around
security is difficult to determine. Despite this unanswered the world.
