Rethinking Transit Safety: Understanding and Addressing Gender-Based Harassment and Enhancing Safety on San Francisco’s Muni Transit System

Abstract

The goal of this research is to support prioritizing safety on the Muni system from a gender equity lens. This work is specifically aimed to inform the Safety Equity Initiative of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). Using a mixed-method approach, we surveyed Muni transit riders ( n = 1,613) to explore their travel behaviors, experiences with gender-based harassment, and perceptions of safety while riding Muni. We find that the pervasiveness of gender-based harassment on the Muni public transit system is significant, with 67% of our sample reporting that they have experienced harassment in the last six months. Perceptions of safety are also quite low, with 68% always or often feeling safe while riding Muni during the daytime and only 32% feeling safe at nighttime. We found that certain populations are disproportionately victimized while riding transit with statistically significant differences across both perception of safety and experiences of harassment between women versus men, gender minorities versus cis gender people, transit dependent riders versus those who have access to a private vehicle, and white versus non-white riders. Based on these findings we provide transformative recommendations to address the high rates of harassment among certain groups of Muni riders. The recommendations are organized into three categories: service changes, infrastructure improvements, and campaigns and advocacy. This work adds to the existing knowledge about gender-based harassment in the transit environment while also specifically informing the Safety Equity Initiative of the SFMTA.