We commute to work or school by subway every day. Before I came to Britain, I didn’t have the habit of taking the subway for a long time. However, in London, this is very common, because here, the subway is one of the most convenient transportation, and if I can see that the subway environment brings substantial changes, i think it will have great influence and change on our mood every day, so I choose this very practical problem. It may not sound technological or advanced enough, but I think change starts from the most practical and most needed place, which is real and changeable.Will a pleasant and comfortable commute make our study life easier.
About stakeholders
This project is aimed at all the citizens, the people who use the subway, who are my stakeholders.I’m going to start with interviews with passengers and staff, which is the most intuitive and first-hand source of information.
The dirtiness of London Underground is mainly influenced by the following factors:
High usage: The London Underground is one of the busiest trains in the world, carrying millions of passengers every day. Due to the high frequency of use, the cleaning task of subway stations and carriages is very heavy and needs to be completed in a short time.
Old equipment: Some of the equipment and facilities of London Underground have been used for decades. Due to long time of use and wear, these equipment and facilities will inevitably have problems, such as water leakage, wall falling off, etc., which is difficult to repair in time.
Lack of cleaning resources: Due to the large number of London Underground stations and carriages, cleaning work requires a lot of manpower and material investment.However, due to a lack of cleaning budget, London Underground has fewer cleaning staff to clean stations and carriages in time.
Uneven quality of passengers: When using the subway, passengers may produce garbage or carve characters on the wall, which will increase the difficulty of cleaning and aggravate the dirty and messy problem of the subway.
According to the London Metropolitan Government, air quality in subway stations and carriages is affected by particulate matter and nitrogen oxides from braking and tire wear on trains, which can be harmful to human health.
To sum up, the dirty and messy problem of London Underground is caused by multiple factors. Although the authorities have been trying to improve the problem, due to historical and budgetary reasons, it is still difficult to completely solve.
To change
the following measures can be taken:
- Increase cleaning efforts: Increase the frequency of cleaning and the number of cleaning staff to ensure that the stations and carriages are kept clean.
- Increase facility investment: Increase the number and placement of facilities, such as rubbish bins and toilets, to make it more convenient for passengers to dispose of rubbish and maintain personal hygiene.
- Introduce new technology: Introduce advanced cleaning technology and equipment, such as automatic cleaning equipment and ultraviolet disinfection devices, to improve cleaning efficiency and quality.
- Strengthen management: Strengthen management by implementing stricter cleaning and hygiene regulations, increasing supervision and education of passenger behavior, and encouraging passengers to comply with hygiene rules.
- Increase publicity: Increase publicity to raise public awareness of the importance of cleaning and hygiene management, and to encourage greater social responsibility for maintaining a clean and hygienic environment.
- Some new technologies, such as the use of ultraviolet lamps to kill microorganisms in the air and the use of nanotechnology to make antibacterial coatings, are being applied to more effectively control the spread of viruses and bacteria
Through the comprehensive application of these improvement measures, the hygiene of the London Underground can be effectively improved, and the overall quality and service level of the underground can be enhanced, providing passengers with a more comfortable, safe, and clean travel environment.
Hardship
Writing here, I find the difficulty of the problem, maybe the change I hope will increase the already expensive transportation cost, while the current sound subway line may be repaired, which will undoubtedly increase the time cost, so this is the source of questions I need to continue thinking about.
I looked up the literature and found that the government spends a lot of money on transportation every year. Why hasn’t the subway environment on the old line been improved? I need to look into it, too. However, it involves government departments.
Reference list:
- Khan, M., & Roberts, J. (2016). The dirty commute: Investigating the relationship between public transportation use and the hygiene of touch-surfaces in London. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 121(3), 771-780.
- London Assembly Health Committee. (2019). Keeping London moving: The impact of air pollution on transport users.
- Transport for London. (2019). Improving the customer experience on the London Underground.
- Rassia, S. T., & Azari, A. (2019). Public transportation hygiene in the city of London: An overview of the current situation and future directions. Urban Science, 3(3), 89.
- Gobbetti, T., Munz, G., & Leclercq, L. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 on public transportation: Observations on cleanliness and hygiene in London, Milan and Paris. Journal of Cleaner Production, 277, 123821.
- Bick, M., Kim, B., & Jones, T. (2016). Improving public health outcomes in the London Underground: A study in virus and bacterial monitoring and control methods. Environmental Research, 148, 211-226.