Traffic, its impacts and public attitudes - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 49

respondents stated that they would reduce their car use if there were safer walking
routes and 31% if there were more cycle tracks away from roads. The desirability of
promoting walking and cycling is acknowledged by the overwhelming majority; 73%
agreed that pedestrians should be given more priority relative to traffic; 68% in the
case of cyclists. Sixty-one per cent of men and 85% of women stated that they were
frightened by the idea of cycling on busy roads.
Attitudes to walking are influenced by conditions other than just danger from
traffic, notably by perceptions of personal security. Transport Trends, commenting on
the ONS data, notes that more than 70% of respondents feel safe walking in local
streets and that their local area is a pleasant place to walk in. It is salutary nevertheless
that about 1 in 6 respondents do not feel this way.
Conditions for pedestrians are also important as the context in which people
access public transport. Amongst regular bus users (unfortunately a self-selecting sub-
group) only around 40% of women report feeling 'very safe' in walking to and from
the bus stop and waiting at the stop. The figures for men are some 7% higher. About
50% of both genders feel this level of safety when travelling on the bus although the
percentage varies with age - the youngest adults feeling least safe. Amongst public
transport users the possibility of crime when making a journey generated some level of
concern amongst almost two-thirds of those surveyed (69% women and 57% men).
Growing fears for personal security when walking and using public transport is
bound up with broader concerns about street crime and anti-social behaviour more
generally. The escorting of children for example is motivated even more by parental
concerns about 'stranger danger' than about traffic (Sissons Joshi and Maclean 1995).
Insecurity on public transport is more likely to derive from a perceived lack of social
control (evidenced in graffiti, rowdiness, unwillingness of staff or fellow passengers to
intervene etc.) than from witnessing actual personal attacks (Jones, M. 2007) .
Trends in travel and transport operation nevertheless have a contributory role. More
mobile populations and lifestyles reduce the degree of personal familiarity and informal
'policing' in local neighbourhoods. More people using cars, and more developments
designed around car use, result in fewer used footways and bus stops leaving individuals
feeling isolated and more vulnerable. Economies in public transport operation have led
to the withdrawal of staff at railway stations, particularly in the evenings when fears
about personal security are greater anyway.
3.5 Noise
'Noise' is not merely sound - the term itself highlights the fact that it is people's
response to levels and types of sound which is the object of concern. This response
depends on the source and variability of the sound as well as its intensity and upon the
context in which it is experienced.
Transport is only one of a variety of sources which collectively contribute to
the noise environment at a particular place. Overall however it is by far the most
pervasive and the one most likely to contribute to disturbance or annoyance. Table
3.1 illustrates that transport sources occupy three out of the top four places in a league
table of culprits. Noise from road traffic is the worst individual source with 84% of the
population reporting hearing it (outside their homes) and 30% being moderately, very
or extremely bothered, disturbed or annoyed by it. Almost 1 in 5 of the population
report having their sleep disturbed by traffic noise and a similar proportion that it
interferes with being able to have the windows or doors of their homes open.