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Bus and Bus Stop Designs FTA MI-26-7004-2001.8





Bus and Bus Stop Designs

Related to Perceptions of Crime

























Federal Transit Administration 2001

Office of Research, Demonstration and Innovation




















Notice

This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the
Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange.
The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or the use thereof.

The United States Government does not endorse manufacturers or products.
Trade names appear in the document only because they are essential to the
content of the report.





























(Upper right cover photo courtesy of WalkBoston)
Bus and Bus Stop Designs
Related to Perceptions of Crime



Prepared by

Anne Lusk, Ph.D.
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
University of Michigan
2000 Bonisteel Boulevard
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2069

alusk@umich.edu
or
AnneLusk@aol.com



Sponsored by

Federal Transit Administration
Office of Research, Demonstration and Innovation

U.S Department of Transportation
Washington, D.C. 20590


Prepared with assistance from

Ann Arbor Transportation Authority
Great Lakes Center for Truck and Transit Research



Available from


National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
Springfield, Virginia 22161
Email
orders@ntis.fedworld.gov






2001





























Anne Lusk received her Ph.D. from the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban
Planning at the University of Michigan with a Major in Environment and Behavior and
Minor in Urban Planning. She holds a Masters Diplome in Fashion Design from Les
Ecoles de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne from Paris, France, a Masters
of Arts in Teaching with a specialization in Historic Preservation from the University of
Vermont and a Masters of Science in Architecture from the University of Michigan.

Acknowledgements
This research has been supported by the Federal Transit Administration, Ann Arbor
Transportation Authority, and Great Lakes Center for Truck and Transit Research.
Oversight for the research was provided by Professor Linda Groat at the University of
Michigan, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. The University of
Michigan staff and faculty guidance, funding and encouragement for this research have
been greatly appreciated. The readers, to whom a great debt is owed, include Tom
Gillespie, Director, Great Lakes Center for Truck and Transit Research, Dennis
Hinebaugh, Transit Program Director with the Center for Urban Transportation
Research, Dr. Daniel Dustin, Professor at Florida International University, and, for the
history section, Tom Jones, Motor Bus Society. Readers with the Federal Transit
Administration who also offered wise counsel included Edward Thomas, Walter Kulyk,
Bert Arrillaga, and Irving Chambers. Guidance was also generously offered by a wide
array of bus manufacturers and bus providers. Table of Contents


Executive Summary 1

Chapter 1: Introduction 7

Chapter 2: Research Design 12
Phase I: Research Question
Phase I: Hypothesis
Phase I: Descriptive Statistics
Phase I: Method
Phase I: Results and Discussion
Phase I: Groups Observations and Interviews
Phase II: Research Question
Phase II: Hypothesis
Phase II: Descriptive Statistics
Phase II: Method
Phase II: Groups That Viewed the Slides

Chapter3: Picture Preference Survey and Discussion Phase II Results 29
Bus Stop Design
Bus Front
Bus Back
Amount of Advertising on Buses
Bus Color
Bus Windows
Bus Doors
Bus Seats

Chapter 4: History of the Design of Buses and Bus Stops 58
Stagecoach, Omnibus, Train, Interurban, Streetcar and Bus
Windows
Lighting and Seating
Bus Shape
Angle and View of the Bus
Advertising on Buses and Streetcars
Stations and Stops
Mood

Chapter 5: Environment and Behavior 76

Chapter 6: Crime and the Effects of Crime on Buses 83

Chapter 7: Social Bridges 88


Chapter 8: Conclusions and Future Research 92

Endnotes 96

Bibliography 102 1

Executive Summary_______________________________
















Though buses, such as this streamlined or GM new look bus [1], incorporated high
elements of design, the bus was still referred to by some as the loser cruiser[2].
Unlike the streetcar, train, car and airplane, the bus never had a Renaissance period
but instead was viewed as a utilitarian means of transportation.

Mass transit is a sustainable solution to traffic congestion, pollution and sprawl, and
yet citizens often prefer to drive their cars. The bus has sometimes been the
transportation means of last resort but it can be more affordable to provide and can
operate with greater flexibility than alternatives such as light rail. One of the many
reasons people have been unwilling to forgo their cars is they perceive the bus to be
unsafe related to crime. Measures have been taken to provide technologies such as
surveillance cameras to detect crime but some riders have not felt safer with the presence
of such measures. Therefore, research was conducted to determine the bus stop and bus
designs that could lessen the perception of crime based on the aesthetic or architectural
features of the bus stop and bus.
This design investigation does not imply that there is a high incidence of crime on
buses or that only a segment of the population rides buses. Prior research indicated that
people who ride buses do not normally encounter crime and therefore are not
apprehensive [3]. That prior research did suggest that some people who do not ride buses
perceive an element of crime and therefore are hesitant to ride buses. To encourage more
people to take mass transit, the bus and bus stop designs could suggest to non-riders that
the bus is safe related to crime. Second, those individuals who regularly ride the buses
might appreciate any design improvements that could enhance their bus riding
experience.
The Federal Transit Administration, in 1997, started a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
Program to investigate high volume, high quality and high speed buses on dedicated
routes. The BRT was conceived as an innovative, integrated, well-defined system and an
incremental development alternative to more capital-intensive rail transit. In 2000, the 2
Federal Transit Administration sponsored a Transit Bus Summit in cooperation with bus
manufacturers, systems suppliers and transit agencies to discuss: 1) procurement, 2) lack
of standardization; and 3) deployment of new technology. In addition to improved
technology, the BRT Consortium identified the image of the buses as a component to
success. As one element related to the bus image, this research was conducted using
picture preference surveys and focus groups to determine the bus and bus stop designs
that might enable people to feel safer related to perceptions of crime and personal
security.
A field of research
called Crime Prevention
Through Environmental
Design (CPTED) was
undertaken in relation to
bus and bus stop designs
to determine spaces th