By Vanessa Chircop
HOBSONS Bay has ranked the worst in the state in a commuter survey of day-time perceptions of public transport safety.
A Star Freedom of Information investigation has revealed only 64 per cent of commuters travelling on Hobsons Bay’s public transport felt safe by day – the lowest in the entire state.
The figures, from the September quarter’s National Survey of Community Satisfaction with Policing, also revealed only 19.6 per cent of commuters felt safe travelling on Hobsons Bay’s public transport by night – the third lowest in the state.
Hobsons Bay Inspector Bill Mathers said he was surprised by the figures because they did not reflect the crime statistics.
“The hard thing about public perceptions is you never know what causes people to feel unsafe – it doesn’t reflect the crime statistics in and around the railway hubs and the public transport,” he said.
Insp Mathers said recent changes to train timetables across the Williamstown and Werribee lines could be influencing perceptions.
“Recently there have been a number of changes to the rail system which have meant that people have had to change their transport habits,” he said.
“It could be because a lot of people have to wait around at stations for longer than their used to.
“A number of our stations don’t have large numbers of people getting on to them in the daytime … we suspect that might be one of the reasons they’re feeling unsafe.
“People generally feel safer when they’re on a crowded platform and a number of our platforms aren’t well patronised.”
Insp Mathers said Hobsons Bay Police along with the Police Community Consultative Committee (PCCC) were working hard to improve safety perceptions on public transport.
“We conducted our own survey at Laverton Station with the people using the train system there,” he said.
“The people who were using it generally felt quite safe in the daytime… generally we’re finding people would like to see more visible police.
“We’re hoping that with the PSOs (Protective Service Officer) eventually being rolled out to stations that this will alleviate people’s fear for their safety at railway stations.”
Insp Mathers said at this stage there will definitely be PSOs assigned to the Newport and Laverton train stations.
“We’re continually working on perceptions of safety,” he said.
“The difficulty we’ve got is that it’s very hard because the perceptions aren’t always linked to the danger.
“Hobsons Bay would be, in terms of crime statistics, one of the safest areas across the West.”
