How Public transportation has a higher risk of safety and security

Public transportation is a big part of our daily commute and is a boon for a lot of people. Public transport does convey people daily to their workplaces and back to home. We don’t have to drive to get to our destination and can avoid waiting in the traffic, but what does it cost us?

It costs us our security, public transport has numerous benefits but still is not safe. Safety and security may just be general terms in our vocabulary but are very limited in the transportation industry and in developing countries the situation is even worse with many fatal accidents and millions of people getting injured annually and some forced to live with lifelong disabilities.

Is Public Transport Safe?

The perception of public transport’s safety is very biased because many governments trying to force their agenda of using public transport desperately convey that public transport is safer than driving your own vehicle.

This perception is mainly used as a base in many developing countries. People are concerned with the safety and security aspect of public transportation as it deals with large human lives as compared to individual vehicles. Public transport poses a higher risk of safety and security because there are more passengers in one vehicle. This problem is even worsening in developing countries.

Often the public transport vehicles are poorly managed and ignore the security standards and safety measures. It has been reported that in Asian countries, public transport is poorly managed and is often overloaded with passengers which ignore the safety measures. Overloading passengers result in many other societal problems in public transport that are not even reported. This results in increasing crimes, misbehaviour towards women and ill-treatment of senior citizens.

The concept of mini-vehicles in different countries is on the rise. Mini-vehicles are used as public transport but pose threats to the solution that is meant to be. These vehicles have a strong reputation of being dangerous as they are not well regulated and some even being illegal due to not fulfilling the security standards imposed by the government.

In urban areas, these tend to solve the problem of commute but impose greater threats such as traffic congestion created due to these vehicles and neglection of small vehicles due to these minivans.

Although, their role in providing necessary mobility cannot be neglected completely.

The Risks Associated with Public commute

Public transportation provides people with mobility service for a very affordable price and also impacts certain other systems as well. Although in terms of safety, they need to improve a lot.

There are a lot of concerns related to public transport.

Safety from Crime

This is no new thing, crimes in public transport have doubled every coming year. People are worried about their belongings and now in the digital age almost everyone possesses some electronic instrument which is costly and this is what’s taken advantage of.

Crime against women has been on rise and numerous incidents occur in crowded places that women don’t report because of certain limitations.

Senior citizens and differently-abled citizens pose a greater problem while commuting with public transport. They are often misled and are vulnerable in most social scenarios and hence can’t fight back against any mishappening.

Safety from Accidents

Accidents are the biggest reason public transport is not fit for the commute. Although, these don’t happen often but still if it does happen then there’s very little you can do. Most countries don’t have any financial scheme to cover for the accidents and lack medical support for such scenarios.

Developing countries pose the biggest threat against these happenings and have a greater chance because of poor security measures and inadequate training of the drivers.

Perception of Security

The bigger threat than poor security is the perception of security. Many countries and cities purposely manage a network of press and have great connections to nullify the news of accidents happening in the city. They can even force people through their strong network to keep it low profile and maintain the perception that the commute through public transport is safe and secure.

The Covid-19 Pandemic

Apart from these, the bigger threat for today’s time is the Covid-19 pandemic. Public transport can never be as safe as your personal vehicle. The virus has wreaked havoc in our life and public transport is now out of the equation because of it. However, sanitized after every use but it can’t be enough to save you from the virus.

The pandemic has forced us to use other transportation services which are safer and can be prone to disadvantages of public transport. Cab services are saving the day for millions of people in this pandemic. These services are safe to use and are well sanitized and follow safety measures from the companies.

If we are to enter the new decade the technological advancements in the automobile industry are very promising and will provide us with much more services that we can’t get in public transport as of now.

Source:https://faidepro.medium.com/how-public-transportation-has-a-higher-risk-of-safety-and-security-88d7c1b88567