The impact of bus stop locations on crime in Port Moody, British Columbia

The relationship between public transportation and crime has been the subject of study for decades. While the public’s concerns over safety on public transit has been justified through studies that have shown that transit users are more likely to be victimized than people who do not take public transit, however, the actual risk of victimization still remains very low. Nonetheless, concern for safety on transit has been shown to impact ridership, an important consideration because the provision of transportation services is a crucial element of social, economic, and environmental sustainability. The current study seeks to analyze socioeconomic data along with bus stop and crime data through the use of Poisson regression models to determine if bus stops or other social attributes are helpful in predicting crime in a small city such as Port Moody. The findings indicate that there is a positive predictive relationship between the presence of bus stops and criminal activity.