Request ID: FOI-1507-2223 Date published: 11 October 2022
You asked
Can you provide details of any research undertaken by TfL as to the effectiveness of its automated safety announcements on the TfL network in changing peoples' behaviour and improving safety.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1507-2223
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 22nd September 2022 asking for information about research into the effectiveness of automated safety announcements.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“Can you provide details of any research undertaken by TfL as to the effectiveness of its automated safety announcements on the TfL network in changing peoples' behaviour and improving safety.”
TfL does not hold the requested information as no research has been undertaken on this specific topic. Research such as this would be unlikely to establish a correlation between announcements of a specific kind and safety outcomes. Behaviour change when it comes to safety is generally about behaviours that do not happen - i.e. people not being careless or not taking risks - and it is hard to research behaviours that don’t happen, making research based on empirical observation virtually impossible. That said, I understand that there have been studies over the years that show that most customers expect us to issue safety announcements as part of our duty of care. Furthermore, whilst people like live, real time announcements, the clear audibility and regularity of automated ones means that the relevant information is guaranteed to be communicated clearly to the maximum number of people.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
