Examining Train Stations as Crime Generators and the Protective Effect of “Regular” Riders

Abstract

Understanding whose eyes make up the ambient population is an important development of crime opportunities research. We hypothesize that regularity at train stations will influence place-awareness and therefore the balance between potential crime offenders, targets, and victims in the ambient population. Drawing on one year of travel card and police-recorded crime data we examine the association between percentage of regular passengers and crime at 134 train stations, controlling for land use and neighborhood social demographic characteristics. We find regularity has a buffering impact on theft and property damage at stations but this effect is curvilinear in the case of theft. Regularity was not associated with assault or motor vehicle crime, we discuss implications for theory and practice.