Passengers’ Perceptions of Security Check in Metro Stations

Xiaomeng Shi,Huaxin Li,Nirajan Shiwakoti,Zhirui Ye

doi:10.3390/su11102930

Abstract

A safer and securer public transport provides a wide range of sustainability benefits to a community. This paper explores passengers’ perception of security checks (SCs) in metro stations, with a focus on the safety and mobility of passenger flows. We used 27 scaling items categorized into five variables: efficiency, comfort, safety, privacy and willingness-to-pay. A questionnaire survey of 880 metro passengers in China showed that respondents are generally homogenous in their perceptions of metro SCs in terms of their agreement on mandatory SC policy and the priority of safety. Most passengers are willing to trade-off their trip efficiency and privacy in exchange for safety improvement, while a small proportion of people are inclined to trade-off their trip efficiency for a more comfortable waiting and riding experiences. Demographic differences such as gender and age group effects are observed. For example, females tend to be more concerned with trip comfort while older passengers are more likely to compromise their privacy with enhancement in safety features. Findings from this study can be a valuable resource to railway authorities in designing and developing a SC system at major railway hubs.

Highlights

The disruptive impacts on the safety and efficiency of transport systems due to man-made calamities or natural disasters are a major concern
To ensure the safety of metro system, security check systems have been implemented into the majority of metro stations in China
The questionnaire consisted of 47 items, among which 27 items were developed to capture passengers’ perceptions of metro security checks (SCs) in terms of efficiency, comfort, safety, privacy and willingness-to-pay

Summary

Introduction

The disruptive impacts on the safety and efficiency of transport systems due to man-made calamities or natural disasters are a major concern. This challenge is intensified by the safety and security concerns post the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.A. In recent years, the mobility and safety issues of passengers in metro (underground railway) systems has been a growing area of transportation research [2]. By the end of 2017, the total length of urban railways in 34 Chinese mainland cities had reached 5033 km, including 3884 km of metro [4]. A total of 165 urban railway lines and 3234 stations have already been put into operation

Methods

Results

Conclusion