Crime blitz on the buses

Oct 6 2005 By Ben Hurst, Birmingham Mail

TICKET inspectors and police have swooped on yet more buses in Birmingham city centre as part of an on-going operation to combat crime and ticket fraud.

The joint Gateway Check found 102 passengers were not carrying the tickets or bus passes.

Stuart Henry, from Travel West Midlands said: "We have held over 190 operations with West Midlands Police so far in 2005 and I am pleased to announce that this is well on course to being yet another record year in terms of operations carried out on the bus network.

"Carrying out over 190 checks so far this year underlines the Company's commitment to not only deterring crime, but reducing the fear of crime in local communities and onboard our buses."

Mr Henry also added that Travel West Midlands is once again stepping up its ongoing campaign against bus smokers.

He said: "We are aware of those bus routes which carry the anti-social smoking problem and our planned initiatives are designed to identify those who continue to break the transport regulations along these corridors.

" We have seen 29 passengers successfully taken through the courts in a little over a year for smoking, a statistic which we would like to considerably raise by the end of 2005."

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