Safety and Security Needs of Commuter Rail Services - Travellers' Perceptions

The issue of safety and security has always been of concern to any passengers. This study examined the travelers' perception towards the safety and the security needs of a commuter rail service. Three hundred respondents from three stations were selected for a purposive survey. Using multiple liner regression, the relationship between lighting, availability of security guard, passengers' behavior and layout and design with travelers' perception on the safety and security needs was predicted. The results revealed the availability of security guards had the most significant contribution towards the variance of the dependent variable. This is followed by the layout and design of the stations and then lighting. Passengers' behavior however does not contribute significantly to the variance of the dependent variable. Such findings provide good input towards further enhancing the overall safety and security aspects of the commuter rail services.