Vulnerable women to get free bus travel at night, Police Commissioner promises
BUS firms have pledged that women who are alone at night and in danger will be able to travel free of charge.
Notts' Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping said he was given the guarantee during talks about safety and transport.
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Paddy Tipping
He said he wanted to ensure there were no more incidents like the 2011 rape of a woman in Nottingham minutes after she got off a bus because she was 20p short of the fare.
Mr Tipping said he had met NCT, the city's biggest bus firm, and tram operator NET to talk about night-time safety. He had also spoken to Trent Barton, who employed the driver involved in the 2011 incident.
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Mr Tipping said he was "really pleased" with the responses.
He said the companies had assured him that in certain situations people who were vulnerable to attack would be able to get home if they were short of the fare, or without any money.
Mr Tipping said: "They said it will not happen in future. In certain circumstances if someone hasn't got a fare, they will take them on.
"Without exception everyone recognised that the incident in 2011 had not been dealt with properly. They gave an undertaking to make sure this does not happen again.
"Bus companies just need to think they have a social responsibility to get people home in some circumstances.
"The tragic incident at The Forest Recreation Ground has woken everyone up."
The woman, in her early 20s, was attacked by Joseph Moran, 19, of Walker Street, Sneinton, in Mansfield Road after a night out in December, 2011.
Moments before, she had boarded a bus outside Boots, in Lower Parliament Street, but only had £4.80 to pay the £5 fare.
The unnamed driver, who worked for Trent Barton, would not waive the 20p and told her to get off.
Shortly afterwards Moran beat her unconscious and raped her behind bushes on The Forest Recreation Ground. He was jailed indefinitely for public protection in September last year.
Alex Hornby, commercial director for Trent Barton, said: "That incident [in 2011] was an extremely rare one and nothing like that in any shape or form has happened since.
"It's not just about training, it's about making sure we have the right people driving.
"It's about making sure we have people who do care about people, and thankfully the trend is more about drivers who do look after people – and sometimes our drivers lend customers their own money.
"If you see someone vulnerable you do all you can to help. It's not just about fare, it can be about making sure they are on the right bus."
NCT said the firm had a long-running policy that said drivers could waive fares. A spokesman added: "Drivers are empowered to allow customers to travel for free if they present themselves in need of travel and cannot pay the full fare."
A NET spokesman said trams had an open boarding system. "We have a policy to deal with people who may be vulnerable and our staff are trained to deal with situations on their merit," he said.
Holly Swinckels, of Nottingham Women's Aid, said: "We'd urge all women to plan to get home safely. That means do go out and have a few drinks and a good time, but think about how you are going to get home.
"That may mean having the right money for a taxi or bus.
"We'd urge all bus companies to be mindful of the risks to women travelling alone."
Taxi firms including DG Private Hire are involved in a scheme with the University of Nottingham Students' Union to ensure students get home even if they are stuck without cash.
34 Comments
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by Tessy
Wednesday, February 27 2013, 10:56AM
“Great, next time i'm on a night i'll have an extra drink, pretend i don't know my husband when waiting at the bus stop and blag a free trip home!...”
by Neo_MadBadger
Tuesday, February 26 2013, 7:31PM
“Looks like 'wortho48' has never seen the late Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video.
smshogun, crime is about opportunity. So, instead of people walking home alone with the potential of being attacked, travelling on a bus for most of the journey home would reduce that potential and hence reduce crime. So your criticism of this initiative is, in your usual stylee, misplaced and uninformed.”
by Soanesoap
Tuesday, February 26 2013, 6:47PM
“Pepper spray? I think that if you look at each incident in isolation and each person as an individual then what happens when noone talks to anyone else and just goes out 'armed to the teeth?' Because if Mr or Mrs Reasonable use common sense and proportion and use pepper spray, you can bet your life that Mr and Mrs Keep up with the Jones's will buy a gun. Shouldn't life be more, can't we expect more of work, leisure, politics and culture that we stop justifying more and more extreme individual responses and expect more and better responses from politicians. I want to see politicians on the streets, in the pubs, on the buses, trams, writing local stories, encouraging local people to voice their fears and their ideas for constructive solutions.”
by mags1862
Tuesday, February 26 2013, 5:40PM
“If law abiding grown ups were allowed to carry pepper spray, as in most other countries, it would give women a chance to fend off a stronger attacker. That is much more agreeable than offering to put their rapist/killer jail.”
by mags1862
Tuesday, February 26 2013, 5:31PM
“"That incident [in 2011] was an extremely rare one and nothing like that in any shape or form has happened since."
They always are aren't they. What about the woman who was wondering naked in the city centre after being raped and people walked passed her? Or the woman who tried to flag a bus down in Carlton and was battered to death? The truth is Nottingham isn't safe for women at night.”
by mof_gedling
Tuesday, February 26 2013, 4:58PM
“no mention is made of the other issue, that is no one is allowed on a bus if they are so drunk they might cause trouble with other passengers,
we need some paddy wagons to ferry these people home,”
by Soanesoap
Tuesday, February 26 2013, 4:18PM
“The point about 'vulnerable women' is the fact that, in most cases, most of the time, bus companies and the general public DO help people and give them neighbourly help.
The crime against the woman who wasn't able to get on the bus would have happened to anyone who crossed his path. I think this offender used sex as a weapon against a woman but would probably have used violence alone if he'd come across a man. The problem of pathologically angry people won't be solved by bus driver chivalry but by ensuring that when they are charged with offences that there's a real way they can face their offences, accept punishment, learn how to make amends and begin to live a different kind of life.”
by smshogun
Tuesday, February 26 2013, 2:36PM
“What training will the drivers get to help them assess who is vulnerable and who is just abusing the system. One question not asked is do bus drivers have to make up any shortfall in takings where their money is down against the issued tickets value, as this seems to have been omitted.
This raises the issue of why Tipping and his assistant are focusing on any aspect they can which is not crime related, only recently we have two stories posted in the NEP where they are focusing on any issues other than thet they are paid for; reducing crime.”
by mof_gedling
Tuesday, February 26 2013, 2:07PM
“unsure why this is making news, all the bus companies stated they would review procedures and change if necessary after the incident in 2011,perhaps Paddy is thinking of introducing a new police bus service for people without money so they can get home safely ?”
by wortho48
Tuesday, February 26 2013, 2:02PM
“What as happened to giving your name and address to the bus driver ... oh yes it might be a false one but putting that aside no one deserves being thrown of a bus man or woman in a part of the city that is noted for attacks on men and women . The Forest area is a dimly lit spooky part of the city where no one cares about your screams only maybe the dead in the cemetery and they cannot help you .”