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The Centre for Transport Studies is pleased to welcome Mr. John Cartledge (Safety Policy Adviser, Passenger Focus) to lead a seminar entitled Public Perceptions of Rail Safety in Britain to be held Today, 8th June 2011 – 16.00 Please join us for presentation and discussion at Room SKEM-163, Skempton Building, Imperial College London (Maps and travel directions: www.imperial.ac.uk/cts/html/Miscellaneous/travelDirections.asp<http://www.imperial.ac.uk/cts/html/Miscellaneous/travelDirections.asp>) Abstract Travellers’ willingness to use a particular mode of transport is affected, inter alia, by their perception of their physical safety in the course of a journey. The perceived level of risk may bear little or no resemblance to the empirical evidence. Following a number of widely reported multi-fatality accidents on the mainline rail network in Britain in the late 1990s and early 2000s, several bodies commissioned studies of the public’s awareness of the relative level of risk associated with alternative forms of surface travel, the perceived nature of these risks, the sources of information used in forming these perceptions, and their priorities for remedial action. This talk will provide an overview of the quantitative and qualitative evidence which has emerged from these studies, as the basis for a discussion about the scale of the misperceptions revealed and the policy implications for safety managers in the rail industry. About the Speaker John Cartledge is Safety Policy Adviser to both Passenger Focus and London TravelWatch, the official bodies representing rail and bus users in Britain. He has been actively involved with consumer advocacy in the public transport industry for more than 35 years. He has been an advocate at the official inquiries arising from most major railway accidents during that period, including the Kings Cross Underground station fire and the collisions at Clapham Junction, Cannon Street, Cowden, Southall, Ladbroke Grove, Potters Bar and Ufton Nervet. He represents passengers on high-level safety advisory bodies set up by the Office of Rail Regulation, the Rail Safety & Standards Board and the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety. He is a graduate of Cambridge University and holds an honorary degree awarded by Plymouth University for his services to rail safety. Imperial’s next CTS Seminar Prof. Mike Smith (Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, University of York) will be leading a seminar titled “A Splitting Rate Model of Traffic Re-routeing; with Application to the Design of Congestion-Reducing Traffic Control Systems” on Monday 27 June 2011 at 16:00. About the CTS Seminar Series The CTS seminar series aims to facilitate discussion on current research topics in the transport field. Seminars are held jointly with our colleagues in the Centre for Transport Studies at University College London. They are usually held on Wednesday afternoons at Imperial College London or University College London. Seminars are free of charge and open to all interested parties. Booking is not required. For further information: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> CTS home: www.imperial.ac.uk/cts<http://www.imperial.ac.uk/cts>