Looking back at my History and Heritage Archives, I came across this article…Operation Safer Travel. Award winning, it certainly was and ground breaking for West Midlands Travel. Whilst Safer Travel continues on its way keeping public transport safe, guided by the public sector now.
The initial hard work took place with the not so ‘bussy’ West Midlands Police title of Operation Hackney!
Started in 1999/2000 the OST quickly became a much talked about initiative that really made a difference to tackling Anti Social Behaviour and crime ‘on the buses’. It became an award winning initiative. Covering the cities of Coventry and Birmingham with the Black Country. It also included the Midland Metro also.
Operation Safer Travel, also travelled North of the Border, setting a strong partnership with Travel Dundee and the then Tayside Police in Scotland. We had some good colleagues from the Police forces working with us, and it is good to know that all that early work is still ongoing.
