Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The line of crime: Dismantling fears and concerns of crime along Vancouver SkyTrain’s Canada Line

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Security Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The expansion of mass public transportation systems has often been resisted due to fears and concerns over an increased level of crime. Public settings such as transit stations tend to attract and generate crime due to their ability to gather larger crowds of people traveling to various parts of a city along a limited number of pathways. The current research explores whether such concerns should be merited or disregarded in the study of crime and transportation. The study offers a preliminary evaluation of the impact on crime at seven stations of the Canada Line, a recent addition of Vancouver’s SkyTrain system. Time-series regression techniques are utilized to analyze crime data from the Richmond Royal Canadian Mounted Police from January 2006 to August 2011. Results demonstrate that the number of reported crimes has decreased since the Canada Line became operational. The study illustrates the importance for planners to consider the relationship between crime and transit systems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Vancouver was the host city for the XXI Olympic Winter Games in 2010. Sporting events and ceremonies took place from 12 February 2010 to 28 February 28 2010. The Paralympics portion of the event took place from 12 March 2010 to 21 March 2010.

  2. August 2009 was selected as the Canada Line debuted on 17 August 2009.

  3. Violent crime includes crimes such as homicide, attempted murder, assault, sexual assault and robbery. Property crime includes crime such as theft, break and enter, and fraud. Other criminal code offences include mischief, disturbing the peace, arson and prostitution.

  4. Crime counts were selected opposed to crime rates as they are the desirable measure used in policing to allocate appropriate resources to reduce crime and fear of crime.

  5. The size of the buffer zone, 250 m, was selected by the Richmond RCMP. This buffer size is an adequate size to use and to capture offences closest to a transit station (for further discussion, see Robinson and Giordano, 2012).

  6. The specialized police force, the Transit Police, was implemented before the study’s time period and therefore the study could not account for their implementation in the regression models when analyzing the trends.

References

  • Andresen, M.A., Brantingham, P.J. and Kinney, B.J. (eds.) (2010) Classics in Environmental Criminology. Burnaby, BC: SFU Publications; Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andresen, M.A. and Tong, W. (2012) The impact of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games on crime in Vancouver. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice 54 (3): 333–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, N. (2008) SkyTrain crime anticipated. Vancouver Sun 15 January: B2.

  • Billings, S., Leland, S. and Swindell, D. (2011) The effects of the announcement and opening of light rail transit stations on neighbourhood crime. Journal of Urban Affairs 33 (5): 549–565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boei, W. (2006) Coping with the chaos of building Canada Line. Vancouver Sun 19 August: A6.

  • Brantingham, P.L. and Brantingham, P.J. (eds.) (1981) Environmental Criminology. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brantingham, P.L. and Brantingham, P.J. (1993) Nodes, paths and edges: Considerations on the complexity of crime and the physical environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology 13 (1): 3–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brantingham, P.L., Brantingham, P.J. and Wong, P.S. (1991) How public transit feeds private crime: Notes on the Vancouver ‘Skytrain’ experiences. Security Journal 2 (2): 91–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ceccato, V. (2005) Homicide in San Paulo, Brazil: Assessing spatial-temporal and weather variations. Journal of Environmental Psychology 25 (3): 307–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • City of Richmond. (2006) Canada Line overview, No. 3, http://www.richmond.ca/__shared/assets/Canada_Line_Overview__Aug_11_2006_PDF14827.pdf, accessed 9 May 2011.

  • Clarke, R.V. (1980) ‘Situational’ crime prevention: Theory and practice. British Journal of Criminology 20 (2): 136–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, R.V. (ed.) (1997) Situational Crime Prevention: Successful Case Studies. 2nd edn. New York: Harrow and Heston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, L. and Felson, M. (1979) Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. American Sociological Review 44 (4): 588–608.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Felson, M. et al (1990) Preventing crime at Newark subway stations. Crime Prevention Studies 1 (3): 137–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Felson, M. et al (1996) Redesigning hell: Preventing crime and disorder at the port authority bus terminal. In: R. Clarke (ed.) Preventing Mass Transit Crime. Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Field, S. (1992) The effect of temperature on crime. British Journal of Criminology 32 (3): 340–351.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaylord, M. and Galliher, J. (1991) Riding the underground dragon: Crime control and public order on Hong Kong’s mass transit railway. British Journal of Criminology 31 (1): 15–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harries, K.D., Stadler, S.J. and Zdorkowski, R.T. (1984) Seasonality and assault: Explorations in inter-neighbourhood variation, Dallas 1980. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 74 (4): 590–604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ihlanfeldt, K. (2003) Rail transit and neighborhood crime: The case of Atlanta, Georgia. Southern Economic Journal 70 (2): 273–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, S., Gudmundur, U. and Hennessey, J.T. (2007) Analysis of light rail rider travel behaviour: Impacts of individual, built environment, and crime characteristics on transit access. Transportation Research Part A 41 (6): 511–522.

    Google Scholar 

  • La Vigne, N. (1996) Safe transport: Security by design on the Washington metro. In: R. Clarke (ed.) Preventing Mass Transit Crime. Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liggett, R., Loukaitou-Sideris, A. and Iseki, H. (2003) Journeys to Crime: Assessing the effects of a light rail line on crime in the neighbourhoods. Journal of Public Transportation 6 (3): 85–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loukaitou-Sideris, A., Liggett, R. and Iseki, H. (2002) The geography of transit crime: Documentation and evaluation of crime incidence on and around the green line stations in Los Angeles. Journal of Planning Education and Research 22 (2): 135–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metro Vancouver (n.d). Transit Ridership 1989–2013, http://www.metrovancouver.org/about/publications/Publications/TransitRidership.pdf, accessed 9 January 2013.

  • Myhre, M. and Rosso, F. (1996) Designing for security in meteor: A projected new metro line in Paris. In: R. Clarke (ed.) Preventing Mass Transit Crime, Crime Prevention Studies. Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press, 6: 199–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearlstein, A. and Wachs, M. (1982) Crime in public transit systems: An environmental design perspective. Transportation 11 (3): 277–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poister, T. (1996) Transit-related crime in suburban areas. Journal of Urban Affairs 18 (1): 63–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reid, A.A. and Andresen, M.A. (2014) An evaluation of CCTV in a car park using police and insurance data. Security Journal 27 (1): 55–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richmond RCMP. (2011) Canada Line Statistics. Richmond RCMP: Crime Analysis Unit.

  • Robinson, J. and Giordano, L. (2012) Spatial interplay: Interaction of land uses in relation to crime incidents around transit stations. In: M.A. Andresen and J.B. Kinney (eds.) Patterns, Prevention, and Geometry of Crime. New York: Routledge, pp. 137–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schawandl, R. (2012) Canada Line route map, UrbanRail.net.

  • Sedelmaier, C.M. (2003) Railroaded: The effects of a new public transport system upon local crime patterns. Doctoral Dissertation, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ.

  • Smith, M. and Clarke, R. (2000) Crime and public transport. Crime and Justice 27: 169–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • TransLink. (2011) TransLink 2010 Ridership: Olympic transit surge sustained one year later, 10 February, http://www.translink.ca/en/About-Us/Media/2011/February/TransLink-2010-Ridership.aspx, accessed 10 December 2011.

Download references

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr Martin A. Andresen, the Richmond RCMP and Richard C. Bent for assisting with this research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Criminology, Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, V5A 1S6, BC, Canada

    Jordana K Gallison

Authors
  1. Jordana K Gallison
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Appendices

Appendix A

Figure A1

Figure A1
figure 1

Map of Metro Vancouver’s SkyTrain Routes.Source: UrbanRail.net, Schawandl (2012).

Full size image

Appendix B

Figure B1

Figure B1
figure 2

Maps of Canada Line stations in Richmond.Source: Used with kind permission of the Richmond RCMP (2011).

Full size image

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gallison, J. The line of crime: Dismantling fears and concerns of crime along Vancouver SkyTrain’s Canada Line. Secur J 29, 485–500 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/sj.2013.42

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/sj.2013.42

Keywords

Search

Navigation