Design Strategies for Mitigating the Mis-use of On-board Communication Alarms on Suburban Trains in Paris

Train dwell times and schedules are particularly important during service peak periods and short headways. Miscreant passenger behavior such as the inappropriate or malevolent use of the emergency communication alarm has a detrimental effect upon maintaining the service timetable. There is a general absence of literature in the transportation field examining this problem or offering potential solutions. This paper discusses a collaborative research project carried out between Monash University’s Department of Design and the French National Railway (SNCF). The method for this research drew upon behavioral psychology and crime prevention techniques to aid in the formulation of a design strategy to reduce the instances of malevolent mis-use of alarms. Leveraging the physical design of the environment to provoke desired behaviors in people is a technique widely used in various disciplines from large architecture projects to more subtle uses of applied psychology. This paper describes the background to the problem as it manifests itself on SNCF’s network in Paris and models potential design solutions that may have pertinence for other networks similarly afflicted around the world.