Learning about Street Harassment on Transit: A Survey Instrument for Transit Agencies

Abstract:

This study was conducted in accordance with California Senate Bill 1161 (2022), legislation that directed the Mineta Transportation Institute to develop a reliable, easy-to-use survey instrument for collecting information from public transit passengers about the extent, location, and characteristics of any street harassment they experience. Although the legislation is focused on large California transit agencies, the study findings are equally relevant to smaller agencies and agencies outside the state. To develop the recommended questionnaire, we reviewed literature about street harassment, analyzed transit passenger surveys to explore the questions asked about safety and harassment, received feedback on iterative drafts of the questionnaire from numerous transit riders and experts, and pilot-tested the survey with 329 bus and train riders. The recommended questionnaire is available on the MTI website in fourteen languages, including English, Spanish, and Chinese.

The survey instrument is available for download here.

Publications:

Learning about Street Harassment on Transit: A Survey Instrument for Transit Agencies (Full Report)

Research Brief

Authors:

ASHA WEINSTEIN AGRAWAL, PHD

Dr. Agrawal is Director of the MTI National Transportation Finance Center and also Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at San José State University. Her research and teaching interests include transportation funding policy; planning and policy to support public transit, bicycles and micromobility, and pedestrians; travel survey methods; and transportation history.

JON CANAPARY

Jon Canapary is Owner/CEO of Corey, Canapary & Galanis, a firm which specializes in transportation research. He is responsible for client interface, team performance, study design and structure, questionnaire development, and project-wide oversight.

CAROL ANNE CARROLL

Carol Anne Carroll is Research Director at Corey, Canapary & Galanis, a firm which specializes in transportation research. She is responsible for study sampling and scheduling, interviewer recruiting/hiring, project planning, and day to day oversight. She is also involved in data processing and analysis/reporting.

TAM J. GUY

Tam J. Guy (they/them) is a doctoral candidate in Urban Planning at the Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA. Their research and teaching focuses on public space and transit experiences, particularly those of transgender and nonbinary people.

ANASTASIA LOUKAITOU-SIDERIS, PHD

Dr. Loukaitou-Sideris is the Interim Dean of the Luskin School of Public Affairs and a Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning at UCLA. Her research interests include issues around mobility, walkability, and safety in public spaces and transit environments. She is the author or editor of 13 books, including Transit Crime and Sexual Violence in Cities (Routledge 2020).

Published:

December 2023

Keywords:

Public transportation

Public safety

Transit passenger surveys

Equity

Research methods