Achieving personal security in future domestic travel: technology and user needs

Research undertaken by the Transportation Research Group at the University of Southampton, which examined the relationship between technological developments and user needs in relation to personal security in future domestic travel, is discussed. The project engaged recognised experts in these fields in workshop discussion and scenario planning. It was agreed that low-level, sub-criminal or anti-social behaviour was the key barrier to secure travel, whereas terrorism was a marginal issue. However, there was disagreement regarding solution development. The ITS community believed technology would deliver solutions (accepting there were secondary effects to be addressed). The user needs community had little faith in technology, seeing it as an inferior substitute for staff presence. Dialogue will be essential for technological solutions to be sufficiently focused so as to gain public support. Hearts and minds are not yet won, and for solutions to be robust, they must better address user needs