West Midlands

Two years ago, the Birmingham Mail ran a survey which said more than a third of bus users had regularly witnessed violent or threatening behaviour.

On the buses - Phil Upton.

Inside Out also spoke to passengers in Birmingham who were full of their own bus bashing stories.

We heard from passengers who told us about being attacked and mugged on the buses and apparently stories like this aren't that rare.

So two years on have things improved?

As National Express (Travel West Midlands) run nearly 80% of the bus journeys in the region, Inside Out's Phil Upton decided to test out their services.

Positive passenger reaction

To Phil's surprise passengers told him how good the services are - until home time when they have the students and pupils of local colleges to contend with.

But overall the feedback for most parts of the day is pretty good.

Cannabis discovery by police.

The issue of anti-social behaviour is not one that's gone unnoticed.

The local council, the police and travel companies have all got together to create the West Midlands Safer Travel Partnership.

This has really started to have an impact over the last couple of years, with a mix of covert inspections and highly visibility presence,

The 'Gateway' operations involve uniformed Police, Council officials and Bus Inspectors.

It's basically a stop and search for buses as Sergeant Miller of West Midlands Police explains:

"We get on, we speak to the passengers and we ask them if they've got any issues or problems. We've carried out surveys in the past… they [passengers] do appreciate these operations - it makes them feel safer."

Safety first

Stop and search operations are just one part of a much wider campaign to get anti-social behaviour off the buses.

The buses also have CCTV which helps to clamp down on bad behaviour.

Safer Travel also wants the public to help them by making use of the confidential 'See Something, Say Something' service that allows passengers to anonymously report bad behaviour en route.

But, it seems that some young people still just don't seem to care.

Tackling crime on the spot.

That means the problem routes now also carry undercover bus inspectors who will pick up on and challenge bad behaviour:

"There is a grey area between what's a crime and what isn't, but we will challenge all bad behaviour and deal with it appropriately," says Daniel Gibbin, TWM Coordinator for the Safer Birmingham Partnership.

It all sounds impressive but has any of this made a real difference?

Making a difference?

Inside Out put our researchers on 20 day-time bus journeys to test it out.

Sure enough there were smokers, two of them, but when we asked them to put their cigarette out, that's exactly what they did.

So maybe all these initiatives are starting to work?

Apparently crime is down and passenger numbers are up. The passengers' verdict on whether it's working is still split, but many are seeing changes already…

"I certainly think it's made a difference - it's stopped a lot of the vandalism upstairs and the dope smoking," said one bus user.

But not all passengers agree: "I think the guys that it's intended to target aren't aware of it and don't take any notice whatsoever," another told Inside Out.

Long journey

What is and what isn't anti-social behaviour all depends on who you are.

Phil Tonks of Bus Users UK.

But according to Safer Travel, these days everyone is having a better time.

However for regular passengers who still see anti-social behaviour on a regular basis, the job isn't finished yet.

Phil Tonks of Bus Users UK points out that it's a good start, but there's a long way to go:

"The Safer Travel team are doing all the right things… identifying hot spots and finding out where the problems are… but we need a lot more resources putting into this, we need more of the Safer Travel team."

Have your say?

How happy are you with your bus route?

Do you feel safe when you climb on board?