Journal articles on the topic 'Mass Transit Railway - Safety measures'

The concept of Safety Integrity Level (SIL) has been developed within different systems of standards (IEC 61508, EN50129 and DEF-STAN 00-56). These standards are applied in different areas: control technology (IEC 61508), railway technology (EN50128 and EN 50129), and defense technology (DEF-STAN-00-56). Nowadays, a lot of the mass transit turnkey projects around the world demand the contractors to follow CENELEC standards and SIL concept for the safety function implementation. Although the concept of SIL is mentioned in these standards, the interpretation of the concept of SIL in these standards is not consistent and unequivocal. This paper is written to elaborate the anomalies of SIL interpretation among these various standards in order for safety engineers to obtain a more detailed view on the concept of SIL over these standards.

Introduction of the mass rapid transit railway system through the Gautrain has not only addressed the transport issue in South Africa but has also motivated and promoted the country’s economic growth by creating employment. Despite the increase in research focusing on the importance of the Gautrain to the South African economy, the influence of perceived convenience, image and safety on commuter satisfaction and loyalty in the South African mass rapid transit railway system context is still limited. This paper used a data collected from 206 Gautrain commuters in the Gauteng province of South Africa to examine the interplay between perceived convenience, image, safety, commuter satisfaction and loyalty. Smart PLS software technique was used to statistically analyse the measurement and structural models. The results revealed that perceived convenience, image and safety positively influenced commuter satisfaction, which, in turn, influenced commuter loyalty. These results may be used by marketers in mass public railway systems to initiate strategies intended to increase both commuter satisfaction and loyalty

As the world adapts to COVID-19, the transport behaviour of commuters has been greatly modified. Governments and transit authorities will need strong, well-received mitigation measures and education campaigns to maintain the historically upward trend of sustainable mass transit usage following this pandemic. This study, from a survey of 1968 Canadians in early May 2020, reveals that, following the end of stay-at-home orders, commuters intend to use their cars more and mass transit less. Driving these behavioural changes are commuters’ perceptions that mass transit use will negatively impact their health safety, peace of mind, and travel experience. The results also show that certain mitigation measures, such as more frequent cleaning and mandatory hand washing, are likely to reduce this decline, whereas e-monitoring and the use of health certificates will be detrimental to mass transit ridership through user perception. These results can help lessen the environmental impact of the public returning to work by encouraging their continued use of more environmentally friendly modes of transportation.

Construction industry involves dangerous activities which few are exposed to a high risk of being fatal, injuries and damages to machinery and property. The construction of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) have no exception to those accidents. The accident can bring economic burden to project stakeholders especially contractors and client. However, the accident cost is relatively complicated because of its “hidden” or “invisible” portion. Thus, this paper is aimed to determine the ratio of direct to indirect accident cost for railway construction projects. The study was conducted using self-administered questionnaire distributed to safety practitioners (n=11) at MRT and LRT construction projects. A total of 36 out of 43 reportable accident cases successfully collected for the study and were analysed with simple descriptive statistics. The findings show that the accident cost ratio for fatality is 1:1.22, permanent disability is 1:1.94, and temporary disability is 1:1.19. The overall accident ratio for all accident classifications is 1:1.23. The findings of the current study may impact future safety cost estimation process in determining the hidden accident costs for railway construction projects.

Counting only the usable land, the population in Hong Kong is as dense as 34,000 people per square kilometer, and it has a highly efficient multi-modal public transport system. According to the experience of Hong Kong public transit system, highly reputable public transport services reveals that the the viability and sustainability of mass transit railways depend very much on accompanying transport policies and land development strategies. The ways to reduce traffic congestion from supply measures to demand management and change the transit mode from vehicle to railway are both based on Hong Kong’s actual situation. Finally this article emphasis on sustainable transport is a great experience which needs research with more in-depth thinking, and the evolution of public transport policy in Hong Kong is a good inspiration for the public transit development in the other great cities in the world.

Counting only the usable land, the population in Hong Kong is as dense as 34,000 people per square kilometer, and it has a highly efficient multi-modal public transport system. According to the experience of Hong Kong public transit system, highly reputable public transport services reveals that the the viability and sustainability of mass transit railways depend very much on accompanying transport policies and land development strategies. The ways to reduce traffic congestion from supply measures to demand management and change the transit mode from vehicle to railway are both based on Hong Kong’s actual situation. Finally this article emphasis on sustainable transport is a great experience which needs research with more in-depth thinking, and the evolution of public transport policy in Hong Kong is a good inspiration for the public transit development in the other great cities in the world.

The railway industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan is currently an emerging market for transport services that integrates into the global economy, primarily in the Asian space. This is explained by the fact that the Republic of Uzbekistan occupies a strategic geographical position in Central Asia and is the center of the region’s geopolitical development, the main transit corridors connecting the North and South, East and West of the continent pass through the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan [1]. When organizing both freight and passenger rail traffic, the issues of ensuring their safety should be considered taking into account the parameters of economic sustainability, which is still not given due attention. Based on the analysis of the indicators and the assessment of traffic safety in JSC “Uzbekistan Temir Yollari”, the authors identified such planning steps as analyzing traffic safety indicators and identifying problems, analyzing the causes of the problems identified, forming the idea of a goal, checking the achievement of a goal, development of options for activities to achieve goals. For each stage, based on the methods of correlation, regression and factor analysis, algorithms for their implementation have been developed. A concept of measures has been developed with the aim of increasing the economic efficiency of traffic safety management depending on the method of control. The authors believe that the implementation of the proposed recommendations for decision-making on road safety is a comprehensive preventive measure to ensure a guaranteed level of economic security in the developing market of Uzbekistan.

With the development of urban mass transit, the metro system has become the backbone of urban transport and attracted a large scale of passengers, which tremendously affect the security, efficiency and service level. Therefore, the early warning of metro stations is the key to safety insurance. In this study, we took Guomao Station as the empirical study, calibrated the threshold value, established the warning index system and proposed some measures to guarantee the operation in Guomao Station and verified the feasibility and practicability of the early warning methodology.

Because of its complexity and length this article is organized into two parts. Part I, which appeared in the previous issue of the Quarterly, traced attempts to improve rapid rail transit in Los Angeles from 1895 to 1925. This concluding installment traces the political, civic, and taxpayer response to the 1925 comprehensive regional rapid transit plan. The plan was eclipsed by a seemingly unrelated controversy about a union station for the steam railroads. Meanwhile, though frustrated in its plan for a crosstown subway, the rapid transit provider, the Pacific Electric Railway (PE), was not passive: it worked cooperatively with other public-sector and private-sector agencies to create viaducts that separated its trains from busy intersections, bought new rolling stock, and installed safety measures. The emerging multi-destinational, automobile-oriented city of the 1930s and 1940s led planners to include rail rapid transit in freeway medians, but the politically powerful State Division of Highways opposed it, as did various civic and commercial organizations and the Automobile Club of Southern California (ACSC). Sectional differences in how residents perceived their interests divided city council and state legislature support. PE’s management, now discouraged, gradually abandoned and finally sold its passenger service. Part II concludes with an examination of the PE’s financial condition in the 1920s in refutation of the often-made claim that the PE’s high debt and unprofitable financial account sheets precluded it from making capital investments.

Railway is the key transport means in China including the Mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Consequent to so many big arson and accidental fires in the public transport systems including trains and buses, fire safety in passenger trains is a concern. Numerical simulations with Computational Fluid Dynamics on identified fire scenarios with typical train compartments in China will be reported in this paper. The heat release rate of the first ignited item was taken as the input parameter. The mass lost rate of fuel vapor of other combustibles was estimated to predict the resultant heat release rates by the combustion models in the software. Results on air flow, velocity vectors, temperature distribution, smoke layer height, and smoke spread patterns inside the train compartment were analyzed. The results are useful for working out appropriate fire safety measures for train vehicles and determining the design fire for subway stations and railway tunnels.

With the rapid development of urban rail transit, the phenomenon of outburst passenger flows flocking to stations is occurring much more frequently. Passenger flow control is one of the main methods used to ensure passengers’ safety. While most previous studies have only focused on control measures inside the target station, ignoring the collaboration between stops, this paper puts emphasis on joint passenger control methods during the occurrence of large passenger flows. To provide a theoretic description for the problem under consideration, an integer programming model is built, based on the analysis of passenger delay and the processes by which passengers alight and board. Taking average passenger delay as the objective, the proposed model aims to disperse the pressure of oversaturated stations into others, achieving the optimal state for the entire line. The model is verified using a case study and the results show that restricted access measures taken collaboratively by stations produce less delay and faster evacuation. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is conducted, from which we find that the departure interval and maximum conveying capacity of the train affect passenger delay markedly in the process of passenger control and infer that control measures should be taken at stations near to the one experiencing an emergency.

Due to the capacity limitation, congestions caused by the excessive amount of passenger flow appear in many Mass Transit Railway(MTR) hubs. Computer simulation is one of the most effective way to solve this problem. In this paper, an identification and elimination of capacity bottlenecks method was proposed based on dynamic movement of passengers simulation. Possible optimized solution was investigated through a case study in XiErqi Station, which is the transfer hub of Line13 and Changping Line in Beijing MTR. The proposed model was validated both statically and experimentally. Two optimization measures were dicussed after digging out the passenger feature and the essence of the congestions. One is improving passenger flow organization, the other is reforming operation organization. Then the simulate experiments were done through a proprietary software developed by Beijing Jiaotong University----SRail System. The simulation result shows congestion was alleviated effectively. It is proved that the method is feasible and effective.

In the context of transportation, the passenger loyalty is a measurement of the level of passenger’s willingness to use a similar public transport. The goal of this study is to examines and identifies factors that influencing passenger loyalty. Three factors such as satisfaction, service value, services quality was predicted as an influential factor towards passengers’ loyalty. The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) for Sungai Buloh to Kajang (SBK) line in Kuala Lumpur conurbation was used as a case study and 555 respondents have contributed to this study. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to investigate the relationship between service quality, service value, passenger satisfaction and passenger loyalty. Satisfaction has the most significant influence on passenger loyalty. Service value has direct and positive effects on passenger loyalty. This study also found the service quality has significant indirect effect on the passenger loyalty via service value and passenger satisfaction.The structural model for investigating the loyalty of MRT-SBK users to this service has been analysed and tested using the service quality, satisfaction and quality value showed 75% positive change for all variables. These models recorded average errors and absolute index evaluation in accepted criteria of ≤ 0.09 and ≥ 0.94 respectively. The study reveals that MRT-SBK passengers’ loyalty is significantly influenced by service attributes, such as vehicle safety, convenience, punctuality, comfort, cleanliness of the facility provided. This study helps MRT service provider to optimize resource to enhance user’s satisfaction and therefore, increase the passenger loyalty

Population is growing rapidly and so are vehicles on roads. This leads to enormous need of tunnels and subways for easy locomotion and mobilization. From conventional tunnels, for sewage and water facilities to modern electrified tunnels, for mass transit and underwater highways, method of construction of a tunnel to its safety inspection and maintenance has taken a wide leap. Tunnel construction requires wide range of resources like human, technology, machinery, materials, energy, and finance. To handle all these resources simultaneously becomes complex and requires good management. Even with good management, accidents and hazards might occur. A critical review of various safety parameters while constructing a tunnel and its management is presented in this paper. This review paper discusses the history of safety of tunnels till present safety measures and techniques adopted around the world for different tunnels; various critical factors which affect the safety in tunnels; the extent of damage occurring due to these factors; numerous preventive measures which are adopted around the world to prevent loss of property and lives in tunnels; and advanced technology and software, which are being used in modern era to enhance safety in tunnel construction. The study from manual horse drawn-tramway to autonomous robotic system has been done. This paper also considers various tunnels around the world and gives a summary of factors for safety focused on for making these tunnels, with its adopted remedy.

Urban population growth and urbanization with its impact on urban planning require continuous research in order to address the challenges posed by transportation requirements. Identifying transportation capacity (road and railways) is an important task that can identify whether the network is capable of sustaining the present volume of traffic and whether it can handle the future intended traffic flow. A new city, XiongAn, will be built in the coming years in order to relieve the pressure of population on Beijing and disperse the economic growth, business activity, and opportunities across the country. The focus of this research is to generate a transportation model between Beijing and XiongAn, in order to increase connection and connectivity, reduce travel time, and increase transfer capacity between the two hubs (Beijing-XiongAn). The existing transportation network between two cities is analyzed and a network which can handle future demand has been proposed. The first stage has been the investigation of a variety of options using geographic information system (GIS). Planning and implementing a mass transit system requires choosing among options such as an existing intercity railway line, a new high-speed railway line, and/or motorway options. In the second phase of our analysis, we assess these options relative to multiple criteria, using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The options were evaluated using various criteria responsible for selection of alternative; it is found that travel time, cost of travel, safety, reliability, accessibility, and environment are key criteria for selecting the best alternative. The GIS and multicriteria analysis suggested that the best option is to build a new high speed railway line.

COVID-19 pandemic provoked a number of restrictive measures, such as the closure or severe restriction of border transit for international trading traffic, quarantines and self-isolation. This caused a series of interrelated consequences that not only prevent or slow down the spread of disease, but also impact the medical systems’ capability to treat the patients and help their recovery. In particular, steeply growing demand for medical safety goods cannot be satisfied by regular suppliers due to the shortage of raw materials originating from other countries or remotely located national sources, under conditions of quarantined manpower. The current context inevitably brings back memories (and records!) of the situation 80 years ago, when WWII necessitated major effort directed at the rapid build-up of low-cost mass production to satisfy all aspects of war-time need. In the present short report we document a successful case of fast mass-production of light transparent medical safety face shields (thousands per day) realized in Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) at Fablab and Machine Shop Shared Facility (Skoltech FabLab). The demand for safety face shields by tens of hospitals in Moscow and other cities rapidly ramped up due to the need to protect medical staff during patient collection and transportation to hospitals, and within both the infected (“red”) and uninfected (“green”) zones. Materials selection for sterilizable transparent materials was conducted based on the analysis of merit indices, namely, minimal weight at given stiffness and minimal cost at given stiffness. Due to the need for permanent wear, design was motivated by low weight and comfortable head fixation, along with high production efficiency. The selection of minimal tooling in University fabrication workshops and the use of distributed volunteer labor are discussed.

The extended landslide of Malakasa area, located 35km to the North of Athens, occurred in a neopalaeozoic schist-sandstone klippe, a complex Palaeotectonic environment in the northern roots of Parnitha Mt. Due to this failure, railway line and highway connection between Athens and central and North Greece were cut off. In this paper, it is attempted to approach the landslide mechanism based on: (i) the kinematic data on the failure surface, (ii) the morphological features of the surface, (iii) the movement vectors, and (iv) the lithostratigraphy and hydro-geological features of the sliding mass. According to the above criteria, three soil blocks can be identified in the landslide mass, which are differentiated by their lithological structure, kinematic features, type of deformation and hydro-geological behavior. The causal factor of the extended landslide was the gradual loss of support of these three blocks and their slide on a pre-sheared surface of low strength that has been caused by the extended excavation in the slope toe. The palaeotectonic structure and the development and geometry of the geological formations in the landslide area were not taken into account during the construction of the drainage works, for slope stabilization and the increasing of safety factor, something which led to the over-designing of the remedial measures.

Development of Satka magnesite deposit is carried out in complicated geomechanical conditions, in particular, mining works are conducted under the Bolshaya Satka river, in the zone of influence of the existing and developed quarries. Underground workings undermine a number of surface objects of industrial and civil purpose: railways, bridges, buildings and structures. There was an urgent need to conduct special studies of geomechanical conditions at the mine in order to assess the feasibility of working off part of the safety pillars located under the railway tracks of "Russian Railways", PJSC and the river bed. In the process of research, the main physical and mechanical properties of rocks have been identified, and the initial natural stresses of the rock mass have been measured. An increased level of horizontal initial stresses in the zone of safety pillars at the horizons + 180. + 260 m was detected. Based on the results of the research, a conclusion was made on the need to develop some engineering measures to ensure the safety of underground works. It was recommended, to ensure the stability of the rocks massif, to apply the option of extracting the treatment chambers with the formation of the ceiling of the vaulted form. It is proposed to monitor deformation processes in mine workings and on the daylight surface. To this end, the installation of an automated control system for rock pressure is recommended. It is necessary to provide for the establishment of long-term observation stations for controlling rock pressure and displacement. According to the results of the research, "Guidelines for the safe control of mining operations at bump-hazardous Satka magnesite deposit" have been developed in accordance with the requirements of the Federal norms and regulations in industrial safety.

The features of the socio-geographic research of urban transport systems impact on the people vital functions are disclosed in this paper. The indicators of transport networks development and current requirements for public transport are analyzed. It is revealed that a key concept of the investigation of transport impact on the population is accessibility. Accessibility is defined as the ability of individual to access to certain centers or services. It involves such aspects as services availability and quality, travel time, cost and effort of movement in space. Article emphasizes that the indigents suffer the cumulative effect of poor transport accessibility, because of their habitats in low-price neighborhoods are often located far from the places of employment or services. The high cost of transportation and required high travel efforts restricts mobility. The map of travel time accessibility to the Kyiv center by public transport was created using the isochronous method. The analysis of this map allows identifying the disparities in the development of the transport network. In some areas a very low accessibility can be revealed due to lack of access roads, land forms complexity, individual housing system, the airport location, railway lines with insufficient number of bridges etc. Particularly difficult situation is typical for such areas as Darnytskyi Railway Carriage Repair Plant region, Juliani, Troyeshchyna and Borschagivka. The average daily passenger traffic flow of the stations of three subway lines in Kiev was analyzed. The maximum and minimum loads and factors that affect them are considered. It is revealed in the research that Kiev transport system has a low level of availability, safety, environmental friendliness and comfort and not enough advantageous for persons with disabilities. The excessive level of automobilization in Kiev can be considered as the evidence of imperfection and inconvenience of the public transport there. From the other hand the motorized vehicles are a factor that displaces public transport from the urban transport system and prevent its development. The priority measures for the improvement of transport situation in Ukraine capital are outlined. They include solving the problem of Dnipro river bridges congestion; enhancement the accessibility of areas cut off by railways in the way of expanding the network of overpasses; construction of the new modes of high-speed light-rail transit; adoption of the traffic automated management system; development and encouragement of the use of environmentally sound forms of transport (vehicles powered by electricity or alternative fuels, etc.).

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a recent study conducted with the objective of addressing the problem of failure of baggage carts in the high-speed baggage tunnel at Heathrow Terminal 5 by the development of an innovative condition-based maintenance system designed to meet the requirements of twenty-first century airport systems and Industry 4.0. Design/methodology/approach An empirical experimental approach to this action research was taken to install a vibration condition monitoring pilot test in the north tunnel at Terminal 5. Vibration data were collected over a 6-month period and analysed to find the threshold of good quality tires and those with worn bearings that needed replacement. The results were compared with existing measures to demonstrate that vibration monitoring could be used as a predictive model for condition-based maintenance. Findings The findings demonstrated a clear trend of increasing vibration velocity with age and use of the baggage cart wheels caused by wheel mass unbalanced inertia that was transmitted to the tracks as vibration. As a result, preventative maintenance is essential to ensure the smooth running of airport baggage. This research demonstrates that a healthy wheel produces vibration of under 60 mm/s whereas a damaged wheel measures up to 100 mm/s peak-to-peak velocity and this can be used in real-time condition monitoring to prevent baggage cart failure. It can also run as an autonomous system linked to AI and Industry 4.0 airport logic. Originality/value Whilst vibration monitoring has been used to measure movement in static structures such as bridges and used in rotating machinery such as railway wheels (Tondon and Choudhury, 1999) this is unique as it is the first time it has been applied on a stationary structure (tracks) carrying high-speed rotating machinery (baggage cart wheels). This technique has been patented and proven in the pilot study and is in the process of being rolled out to all Heathrow terminal connection tunnels. It has implications for all other airports world-wide and, with new economic sensors, to other applications that rely on moving conveyor belts.

Day in, day out millions of people all around the world use public transportation systems. Within a metropolis, local rail transport is usually the only cheap and efficient way to get from one place to another. This is making new demands on the rail-bound mass transit. The door system needs to be robust, reliable, maintainable, safe and unaffected by the environment in order to guarantee an efficient train service. Because of round the clock operation of these trains, it is difficult to maintain the door systems regularly. They also get exposed to harsh environment like rain, sunlight and rough handling which may lead to malfunction. Safety is a very important constraint in any mass transit system and any malfunction in the door system can lead to severe mishap. Considering all the above constraints, we are proposing Linear Switched Reluctance Motor (LSRM) based door systems for railway carriages. The phase independent nature of LSRM makes it the best choice for door systems application as it can be made to operate even if any phase fails to work. This paper presents a clear design guide for a longitudinal flux single sided LSRM. The design parameters have been verified using two dimensional finite element analysis (2D-FEA). Finally a prototype has been built and tested. Test results imply the features of LSRM that make it a strong candidate for door systems of railway carriages.

In the design, construction and further operation of communication lines on permafrost soils, the most urgent task is to ensure the reliability of the foundation of the structure. The complexity of construction in the North is due to the presence of permafrost soils in the foundations of buildings, a large number of natural barriers, extreme climatic conditions and lack of infrastructure. In this regard, the choice of structural, technological and organizational solutions for the development of transport infrastructure, including for railways and, first of all, a deformability forecast, measures to ensure the stability of the soil base and the development of rational organizational schemes for their implementation, should be economically feasible, optimal or close to optimal for a particular engineering structure and the region of its location. To ensure stability and sustainability of the soil base of the structure on the Northern Latitudinal Railway section of the new Obskaya-Salekhard railway line, PK 01+50 – PK 06+50, the author proposes a solution to strengthen the base soil with vertical columns of crushed stone. This article shows the effect of vertical columns of crushed stone on the strength characteristics of permafrost soils of the base of the structure. The dependence of the strength characteristics of the soil base on the different steps of the placement of vertical columns of crushed stone is shown. The conclusion is drawn about the most optimal spacing step according to the results of calculations and comparison of various steps of arranging vertical pillars from crushed stone. The results presented in the article are part of the dissertation research I. Artyushenko «Reinforcement of the subgrade base with vertical columns of crushed stone in areas with permafrost soils».

Road traffic accidents leave medical and social repercussions on families and individuals involved. Moreover, it is saddening that the most vulnerable are from the youth and middle age groups. This deprives the society of much needed and precious human resources. Hence, the mean which was originally designed to serve mankind has become a means of destruction, cause of disability and sometimes death. The medical profession has to assume a key role not only in the management of the injured, but also in the prevention of accidents and road safety measures. In order to reduce the incidence of road accidents it is important to establish an efficient organizational set-up, highlight the role of mass-transit, periodic checkup of the vehicle for its road worthiness and education of masses with the hope that they will adhere to the rules while on road.

Abstract Many large engineering projects, e.g., the Sichuan–Tibet Railway, inevitably cross the earthquake active areas and the geology complicated zones, facing the challenges of dynamic disturbances and disasters. In view of this, the conceptualization of engineering disturbed rock dynamics is proposed in this paper, aiming to systematically study the rock dynamic behavior and response subjected to engineering disturbances, to establish the 3D rock dynamic theory, and to develop the disaster prevention and control technical measures. The classification standards of rock loading states based on strain rate are summarized and analyzed. The engineering disturbed rock dynamics is defined as the theoretical and applied science of rock dynamic behaviors, dynamic responses and their superposition caused by dynamic disturbances during engineering construction and operation periods. To achieve the goals of the proposed engineering disturbed rock dynamics, a combined methodology of theoretical analysis, laboratory experiment, numerical simulation and in situ tests is put forward. The associated research scopes are introduced, i.e., experimental and theoretical study of engineering disturbed rock dynamics, wave propagation, attenuation and superposition in rock masses, rock dynamic response of different loading conditions, dynamic response of engineering projects under construction disturbance and disaster mitigation techniques, and dynamic response of major engineering projects under operation disturbance and safety guarantee measures. Some theoretical, experimental and field preliminary studies were performed, including dynamic behavior of disturbed rock at varied depth and strain rates, dynamic response of rock mass subjected to blasting excavation disturbance and dynamic drilling disturbance, and disturbance of rock mass subjected to TBM excavation. Preliminary results showed that the rock masses are significantly disturbed by dynamic disturbances during construction and operation periods of engineering projects. The innovative conceptualization of engineering disturbed rock dynamics and the expected associated outcomes could facilitate establishing the 3D rock dynamic theory and offering theoretical fundamentals and technical guarantees for safety and reliability of the design, construction and operation of modern large engineering.

In the contemporary urban environment of mass transit, it falls to a small group of public officers to keep large number of travellers safe. The small size of their force and the often limited powers they exert mean that these public safety ‘transit officers’ must project more authority and control than they really have. It is this ambience of authority and control which, in most situations they encounter and seek to influence, is enough to keep the public safe. This paper examines the ambience of a group of transit officers working on the railway lines of an Australian capital city. We seek to show how transit officers are both influenced by, and seek to influence, the ambience of their workplace and the public spaces they inhabit whilst on duty, and here we take ambience to apply to the surrounding atmosphere, the aura, and the emotional environment of a place or situation: the setting, tone, or mood. For these transit officers to keep the public safe, they must themselves remain safe. A transit officer who is disabled in a confrontation with a violent offender is unable to provide protection to his or her passengers. Thus, in the culture of the transit officers, their own workplace safety takes on a higher significance. It affects not just themselves. The ambience exuded by transit officers, and how transit officers see their relationship with the travelling public, their management and other organisational work groups, is an important determinant of their work group’s safety culture. Researching the Working Lives of Transit Officers in Perth Our discussion draws on an ethnographic study of the working lives and communication cultures of transit officers (TOs) employed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA) of Western Australia (WA). Transit officers have argued that to understand fully the challenges of their work it is necessary to spend time with them as they undertake their daily duties: roster in, roster out. To this end, the research team and the employer organisation secured an ARC Linkage Grant in partnership with the PTA to fund doctoral candidate and ethnographer Christine Teague to research the workers’ point of view, and the workers’ experiences within the organisation. The two-hundred TOs are unique in the PTA. Neither of the other groups who ride with them on the trains, the drivers and revenue protection staff (whose sole job is to sell and check tickets), experiences the combination of intense contact with passengers, danger of physical injury or group morale. The TOs of the PTA in Perth operate from a central location at the main train station and the end stations on each line. Here there are change lockers where they can lock up their uniforms and equipment such as handcuffs and batons when not on duty, an equipment room where they sign out their radios, and ticket-checking machines. At the main train station there is also a gym, a canteen and holding cells for offenders they detain. From these end stations and central location, the TOs fan out across the network to all suburbs where they either operate from stations or onboard the trains. The TOs also do ‘delta van’ duty providing rapid, mobile back-up support for their colleagues on stations or trains, and providing transport for arrested persons to the holding cell or police lock up. TOs are on duty whenever the trains are running–but the evenings and nights are when they are mainly rostered on. This is when trouble mostly occurs. The TOs’ work ends only after the final train has completed its run and all offenders who may require detaining and charging have been transferred into police custody. While the public perceive that security is the TOs’ most frequent role, much of the work involves non-confrontational activity such as assisting passengers, checking tickets and providing a reassuring presence. One way to deal with an ambiguous role is to claim an ambience of power and authority regardless. Various aspects of the TO role permit and hinder this, and the paper goes on to consider aspects of ambience in terms of fear and force, order and safety, and role confusion. An Ambience of Fear and Force The TOs are responsible for front-line security in WA’s urban railway network. Their role is to offer a feeling of security for passengers using the rail network after the bustle of the work day finishes, and is replaced by the mainly recreational travels of the after hours public. This is the time when some passengers find the prospect of evening travel on the public transport rail network unsettling–so unsettling that it was a 2001 WA government election promise (WA Legislative Council) that every train leaving the city centre after 7pm would have two TOs riding on it. Interestingly, recruitment levels have never been high enough for this promise to be fully kept. The working conditions of the TOs reflect the perception, and to an extent, the reality that some late night travel on public transport involves negotiating an edgy ambience with an element of risk, rubbing shoulders with people who may be loud, rowdy, travelling in a group, and or drug and alcohol affected. As Fred (all TO names are pseudonyms) comments: You’re not dealing with rational people, you’re not dealing with ‘people’: most of the people you’re dealing with are either drunk or under the influence of drugs, so they’re not rational, they don’t hear you, they don’t understand what you’re saying, they just have no sense of what’s right or wrong, you know? Especially being under the influence, so I mean, you can talk till you’re blue in the face with somebody who’s drunk or on drugs, I mean, all you have to say is one thing. ‘Oh, can I see your ticket please’, ‘oh, why do I need a fucking ticket’, you know? They just don’t get simple everyday messages. Dealing with violence and making arrest is a normal part of this job. Jo described an early experience in her working life as a TO:Within the first week of coming out of course I got smacked on the side of the head, but this lady had actually been certified, like, she was nuts. She was completely mental and we were just standing on the train talking and I’ve turned around to say something to my partner and she was fine, she was as calm as, and I turned around and talked to my partner and the next thing I know I ended up with her fist to the side of my head. And I went ‘what the hell was that’? And she went off, she went absolutely ballistic. I ended up arresting her because it was assault on an officer whether she was mental or not so I ended up arresting her.Although Jo here is describing how she experienced an unprovoked assault in the early days of her career as a TO, one of the most frequent precursors to a TO injury occurs when the TO is required to make an arrest. The injury may occur when the passenger to be arrested resists or flees, and the TO gives chase in dark or treacherous circumstances such as railway reserves and tunnels, or when other passengers, maybe friends or family of the original person of concern, involve themselves in an affray around the precipitating action of the arrest. In circumstances where capsicum spray is the primary way of enforcing compliance, with batons used as a defence tool, group members may feel that they can take on the two TOs with impunity, certainly in the first instance. Even though there are security cameras on trains and in stations, and these can be cued to cover the threatening or difficult situations confronting TOs, the conflict is located in the here-and-now of the exchanges between TOs and the travelling public. This means the longer term consequence of trouble in the future may hold less sway with unruly travellers than the temptation to try to escape from trouble in the present. In discussing the impact of remote communications, Rubert Murdoch commented that these technologies are “a powerful influence for civilised behaviour. If you are arranging a massacre, it will be useless to shoot the cameraman who has so inconveniently appeared on the scene. His picture will already be safe in the studio five thousand miles away and his final image may hang you” (Shawcross 242). Unfortunately, whether public aggression in these circumstances is useless or not, the daily experience of TOs is that the presence of closed circuit television (CCTV) does not prevent attacks upon them: nor is it a guarantee of ‘civilised behaviour’. This is possibly because many of the more argumentative and angry members of the public are dis-inhibited by alcohol or other drugs. Police officers can employ the threat or actual application of stun guns to control situations in which they are outnumbered, but in the case of TOs they can remain outnumbered and vulnerable until reinforcements arrive. Such reinforcements are available, but the situation has to be managed through the communication of authority until the point where the train arrives at a ‘manned’ station, or the staff on the delta vehicle are able to support their colleagues. An Ambience of Order and Safety Some public transport organisations take this responsibility to sustain an ambience of order more seriously than others. The TO ethnographer, Christine Teague, visited public transport organisations in the UK, USA and Canada which are recognised as setting world-class standards for injury rates of their staff. In the USA particularly, there is a commitment to what is called ‘the broken windows’ theory, where a train is withdrawn from service promptly if it is damaged or defaced (Kelling and Coles; Maple and Mitchell). According to Henry (117): The ‘Broken Windows’ theory suggests that there is both a high correlation and a causal link between community disorder and more serious crime: when community disorder is permitted to flourish or when disorderly conditions or problems are left untended, they actually cause more serious crime. ‘Broken windows’ are a metaphor for community disorder which, as Wilson and Kelling (1982) use the term, includes the violation of informal social norms for public behaviour as well as quality of life offenses such as littering, graffiti, playing loud radios, aggressive panhandling, and vandalism.This theory implies that the physical ambience of the train, and by extension the station, may be highly influential in terms of creating a safe working environment. In this case of ‘no broken window’ organisations, the TO role is to maintain a high ‘quality of life’ rather than being a role predominantly about restraining and bringing to justice those whose behaviour is offensive, dangerous or illegal. The TOs in Perth achieve this through personal means such as taking pride in their uniforms, presenting a good-natured demeanour to passengers and assisting in maintaining the high standard of train interiors. Such a priority, and its link to reduced workforce injury, suggests that a perception of order impacts upon safety. It has long been argued that the safety culture of an organisation affects the safety performance of that organisation (Pidgeon; Leplat); but it has been more recently established that different cultural groupings in an organisation conceive and construct their safety culture differently (Leith). The research on ‘safety culture’ raises a problematic which is rarely addressed in practice. That problematic is this: managers frequently engage with safety at the level of instituting systems, while workers engage with safety in terms of behaviour. When Glendon and Litherland comment that, contrary to expectations, they could find no relationship between safety culture and safety performance, they were drawing attention to the fact that much managerial safety culture is premised upon systems involving tick boxes and the filling in of report forms. The broken window approach combines the managerial tick box with managerial behaviour: a dis-ordered train is removed from service. To some extent a general lack of fit between safety culture and safety performance endorses Everett’s view that it is conceptually inadequate to conceive organisations as cultures: “the conceptual inadequacy stems from the failure to distinguish between culture and behavioural features of organizational life” (238). The general focus upon safety culture as a way of promoting improvements in safety performance assumes that compliance with a range of safety systems will guarantee a safe workplace. Such an assumption, however, risks positioning the injured worker as responsible for his or her own predicament and sets up an environment in which some management officials are wont to seek ways in which that injured worker’s behaviour failed to conform with safety rules or safety processes. Yet there are roles which place workers in harm’s way, including military duties, law enforcement and some emergency services. Here, the work becomes dangerous as it becomes disorderly. An Ambience of Roles and Confusion As the research reported here progressed, it became clear that the ambience around the presentation of the self in the role of a TO (Goffman) was an important part of how ‘safety’ was promoted and enacted in their work upon the PTA (WA) trains, face to face with the travelling public. Goffman’s view of all people, not specifically TOs, is that: Regardless of the particular objective which the individual has in mind and of his motive for having this objective, it will be in his interests to control the conduct of the others, especially their responsive treatment of him. This will largely be through influencing the perception and definition that others will come to formulate of him. He will influence them by expressing himself in such a way that the kind of impression given off will lead them to act voluntarily in accordance with his own plan. (3)This ‘influencing of perception’ is an important element of performing the role of a TO. This task of the TOs is made all the more difficult because of confusions about their role in relation to two other officers: police (who have more power to act in situations of public safety) and revenue project officers (who have less), as we now discuss. The aura of the TO role borrows somewhat from those quintessential law and order officers: the police. TOs work in pairs, like many police, to support each other. They have a range of legal powers including the power of arrest, and they carry handcuffs, a baton and capsicum spray as a means of helping ensure their safety and effectiveness in circumstances where they might be outnumbered. The tools of their trade are accessibly displayed on heavy leather belts around their waists and their uniforms have similarities with police uniforms. However, in some ways these similarities are problematic, because TOs are not afforded the same respect as police. This situation underlines of the ambiguities negotiated within the ambience of what it is to be a TO, and how it is to conduct oneself in that role. Notwithstanding the TOs’ law and order responsibilities, public perceptions of the role and some of the public’s responses to the officers can position these workers as “plastic cops” (Teague and Leith). The penultimate deterrent of police officers, the stun gun (Taser), is not available to TOs who are expected to control all incidents arising on duty through the fact that they operate in pairs, with capsicum spray available and, as a last resort, are authorised to use their batons in self defence. Furthermore, although TOs are the key security and enforcement staff in the PTA workforce, and are managed separately from related staff roles, they believe that the clarity of this distinction is compromised because of similarities in the look of Revenue Protection Officers (RPOs). RPOs work on the trains to check that passengers have tickets and have paid the correct fares, and obtain names and addresses to issue infringement notices when required. They are not PTA employees, but contracted staff from an outside company. They also work in pairs. Significantly, the RPO uniform is in many respects identical to that of the TO, and this appears to be a deliberate management choice to make the number of TOs seem greater than it is: extending the TO ambience through to the activities of the RPOs. However, in the event of a disturbance, TOs are required and trained to act, while RPOs are instructed not to get involved; even though the RPOs appear to the travelling public to be operating in the role of a law-and-order-keeper, RPOs are specifically instructed not to get involved in breaches of the peace or disruptive passenger behaviour. From the point of view of the travelling public, who observe the RPO waiting for TOs to arrive, it may seems as if a TO is passively standing by while a chaotic situation unravels. As Angus commented: I’ve spoken to quite a few members of public and received complaints from them about transit officers and talking more about the incident have found out that it was actually [RPOs] that are dealing with it. So it’s creating a bad image for us …. It’s Transits that are copping all the flak for it … It is dangerous for us and it’s a lot of bad publicity for us. It’s hard enough, the job that we do and the lack of respect that we do get from people, we don’t need other people adding to it and making it harder. Indeed, it is not only the travelling public who can mistake the two uniforms. Mike tells of an “incident where an officer [TO] has called for backup on a train and the guys have got off [the train at the next station] and just stood there, and he didn’t realise that they are actually [revenue protection] officers, so he effectively had no backup. He thought he did, but he didn’t.” The RPO uniform may confer an ambience of power borrowed from TOs and communicated visually, but the impact is to compromise the authority of the TO role. Unfortunately, what could be a complementary role to the TOs becomes one which, in the minds of the TO workforce, serves to undermine their presence. This effect of this role confusion is to dilute the aura of authority of the TOs. At one end of a power continuum the TO role is minimised by those who see it as a second-rate ‘Wannabe cop’ (Teague and Leith 2008), while its impact is diluted at the other end by an apparently deliberate confusion between the TO broader ‘law and order’ role, and the more limited RPO revenue collection activities. Postlude To the passengers of the PTA in Perth, the presence and actions of transit officers appear as unremarkable as the daily commute. In this ethnographic study of their workplace culture, however, the transit officers have revealed ways in which they influence the ambience of the workplace and the public spaces they inhabit whilst on duty, and how they are influenced by it. While this ambient inter-relationship is not documented in the organisation’s occupational safety and health management system, the TOs are aware that it is a factor in their level at safety at work, both positively and negatively. Clearly, an ethnography study is conducted at a certain point in time and place, and culture is a living and changing expression of human interaction. The Public Transport Authority of Western Australia is committed to continuous improvement in safety and to the investigation of all ways and means in which to support TOs in their daily activities. This is evident not only in their support of the research and their welcoming of the ethnographer into the workforce and onto the tracks, but also in their robust commitment to change as the findings of the research have progressed. In particular, changes in the ambient TO culture and in the training and daily practices of TOs have already resulted from this research or are under active consideration. Nonetheless, this project is a cogent indicator of the fact that a safety culture is critically dependent upon intangible but nonetheless important factors such as the ambience of the workplace and the way in which officers are able to communicate their authority to others. References Everett, James. “Organizational Culture and Ethnoecology in Public Relations Theory and Practice.” Public Relations Research Annual. Vol. 2. Eds. Larissa Grunig and James Grunig. Hillsdale, NJ, 1990. 235-251. 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Pidgeon, Nick. “Safety Culture and Risk Management in Organizations.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 22.1 (1991): 129-140. Shawcross, William. Rupert Murdoch. London: Chatto & Windus, 1992. Teague, Christine, and David Leith. “Men of Steel or Plastic Cops? The Use of Ethnography as a Transformative Agent.” Transforming Information and Learning Conference Transformers: People, Technologies and Spaces, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA, 2008. ‹http://conferences.scis.ecu.edu.au/TILC2008/documents/2008/teague_and_leith-men_of_steel_or_plastic_cops.pdf›. Wilson, James, and George Kelling. “Broken Windows.” The Atlantic Monthly (Mar. 1982): 29-38. WA Legislative Council. “Metropolitan Railway – Transit Guards 273 [Hon Ed Dermer to Minister of Transport Hon. Simon O’Brien].” Hansard 19 Mar. 2009: 2145b.