Huge spike in anti-social behaviour on Luas in last…

Huge spike in anti-social behaviour on Luas in last three years

There has been a huge jump in reports of anti-social behaviour on the Luas since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Dublin Live can reveal.

Dublin Live previously reported a woman was left traumatised after she was "kicked and abused" by a group of teenagers on the Luas with many feeling generally unsafe. It comes as the Government is trying to get more people onto public transport and away from cars.

Despite far fewer people using public transport due to Covid-19 lockdowns, the number of complaints around anti-social behaviour almost doubled during the Covid-19 years. In 2018 and 2019, there were 970 and 975 respective complaints.

This shot up to 1,686 in 2020, when lockdowns were first introduced in March. The figures for 2021 were largely the same at 1,564 and shot up again to 1,748 in 2022.

In total, there were 6,943 reports of anti-social behaviour made by members of the public and tram staff to the Luas operator Transdev over the last five years. Transport Minister Eamon Ryan is trying to reduce the use of private cars as part of our climate goals.

However, Independent Councillor Mannix Flynn told Dublin Live "more and more" people are considering getting a private car due to "not safe" public transport options. He said: "It's atrocious but it is the norm now.

"Those figures are not surprising and the various Transport Ministers and indeed the overall response from An Garda Siochana is to be found wanting as these figures are simply atrocious. For a capital city to be flouting those numbers, given the size of the network is small enough, is simply unacceptable and it is time now we have a dedicated response to this by way of proper policing."

He added: "More and more people are considering their own private car.

"The environment isn't safe on public transport so people are going to go back in and buy their own car second hand or otherwise because it is too unsafe. It is too risky".

Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon said it is hard to find an "immediate solution" but called for added security and garda presence. He said: "I live near the Luas myself and use it regularly.

"Generally I've found it safe, but it's clear that there are real problems on board. It's hard to see any immediate solution beyond increasing security and Garda patrols on board.

"There needs to be a clear presence to improve behaviour and reassure the 99% of Luas users who just want to travel safely. From what I've seen, the greatest need is in the evenings and outside of rush hour.

"The Gardai need to establish a more regular presence on the Luas network."

Dublin Commuter Coalition committee member Lauren Tuite said it was "not surprising" there was an increase of anti-social incidents during Covid lockdowns. She also called for greater investment in public transport.

She said: “Continued and increasing investment in our public transport network will lead to greater frequencies and reliability. This investment has to be supported by safe walking and cycling routes, to empower a wider cross section of society to use public transport.

"When it comes to community safety; diversity is strength–in age, gender, race, socioeconomic background etc. Studies show that people feel safer, and behave better when there is a mix of people around them.

"It's not surprising that the increase in anti-social behaviour incidents happened during lockdown, when schools and workplaces closed, and the reporting of these incidents may have prevented passengers returning to pre-Covid travel patterns."

The Dublin Commuter Coalition also called for increased staffing presence on public transport to support customers and for a reporting mechanism to be included on the TFI mobile app.

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