Bid to make bus travel safer for young people

It follows a survey carried out at the end of last year by Angus Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament which revealed that young people did not feel safe while travelling on buses, and 47 per cent of respondents would not know what to do if they felt unsafe while doing so.

Some constituents had expressed concerns about using public transport and the outcome of the research was confirmed at the Angus-wide 5 Ways to Wellbeing Youth Event in November 2022, which focused on identifying barriers and potential solutions young people face to looking after their health and well-being

The result was a collaboration with Angus Council’s Vibrant Communities and Transport teams, Police Scotland and Stagecoach developed the campaign which includes videos featuring tips and advice, and an example of what happens when someone reports unacceptable behaviour on a bus journey to the police.

It will also be backed by posters that will go up around Angus as well as social media activity.

Hollie McIntosh, Angus Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, said: “Being part of this campaign has really opened my eyes to the barriers young people face to travelling on buses. We have heard your concerns loud and clear and that’s why we created the Safer Travel Angus Campaign.”

Hollie continued: “With the partners, we’ve developed resources such as a video and posters which can be accessed on the Angus Young Scot web pages.

"We want to raise awareness of the campaign by advertising far and wide.

“Youth led projects are the way to go for the future to meet the needs of young people in Angus, given the Partnership we formed has worked so well.”

Angus Council’s Communities convener Councillor Mark McDonald said that the campaign will highlight that some of the behaviour young people are experiencing are reportable offences.

The campaign will help them to recognise incidents as such and to know what to do about them

He said: “This campaign has been entirely led by the needs of young people, with young people at the centre of developing and leading the campaign.

“No one should feel unsafe using public transport. Many young people don’t realise that some of the behaviours they’re experiencing while travelling are a crime and can be reported to the police, which is why it is so important we are raising awareness and helping them to report what’s happening to them.

“We hope to get this safety message out to as many young people and families as possible, in the hope of building the confidence of young people to travel and their ability to get help should they need to.”

Further information about the Safer Travel Angus Campaign can be found on the Young Scot Angus webpage – young.scot/angus .