Le Figaro Lyon
For the first time in France, TCL network buses will be able to be used as places of safety or “safe places” by victims of street harassment.
An initiative set up with the help of the free Umay application, which references these safe places on a map to fight against this type of aggression.
“This is an essential subject, we cannot have a quality network if security is not ensured
,” declared Bruno Bernard, the president of the Lyon metropolitan area.
From this Friday, March 8, International Women's Day, TCL agencies and all 27 major bus lines in the city will be listed as “places of refuge” on the application.
By the end of 2024, the network's 1,000 buses will be integrated into the system.
Inside, victims or witnesses of street harassment will be able to find safety and find officers trained to help them.
“These people in distress could be our wife or our daughter.
The training we received structures the approach we already had through humanity alone
,” confides Arnaud, one of the trained bus drivers.
It is up to him to contact the network security services if a victim presents himself.
“Either they call us or people come and get us directly,”
continues Arnaud, a member of this service.
If we have to stay 7 hours with the person to accompany them, we do it.
We have all been trained since November.
Depending on the situation, we can request reinforcements from our partners, gendarmerie, police, etc..”
.
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10,000 cameras
This new system is in addition to other measures taken by the Lyon network over the past 20 years.
Since 2019, bus users can request stopping on demand across the entire network.
Women's exploratory marches are also regularly organized to improve travel conditions on certain lines.
In total, Sytral (the transport organizing authority for the Lyon metropolitan area) spends 29 million euros each year to secure the network, which now includes 10,000 video surveillance cameras and 250 control agents.
Last year, attacks on peace fell by 35%, those on travelers by 26% and waits on agents by 16%.
According to Sytral, the Lyon network is the one
“with the least delinquency”
with 0.37 reached per million trips in 2022 (0.26 in 2023) compared to 1.34 for the networks of metropolises with more than 250,000 inhabitants.