Transit Workers Research Articles

Temporal Trends of Early COVID-19 Infections in New York City Transit Workers and Residents: March 01, 2020-May 02, 2020.

The continuity of public transportation was necessary during the COVID-19 pandemic so that essential workers could report for duty. Therefore, it is important to consider COVID-19's impact on transit workers themselves. We described COVID-19 incidence rates over time in New York City (NYC) transit workers and the NYC general population during March-May, 2020. NYC transit COVID-19 cases were abstracted from occupational injury and illness logs, and health department data was used to ascertain NYC resident cases. COVID-19 rates among transit workers peaked during the week of March 22-28 (429.8 cases/100,000 workers). The peak in transit workers occurred 1-2weeks before the general public's peak (March 29-April 4: 368.8 cases/100,000 people; April 5-11: 357.8 cases/100,000 people). These data suggest that NYC transit workers may have been impacted by COVID-19 earlier than the general public. Thus, improving early detection and response of respiratory disease outbreaks may be vital to protecting transit workers.

“We Were Put Out of Good Jobs”: Women Night Workers in New York and the Origins of the Women’s Equal Opportunity League

Abstract In the 1910s, U.S. social reformers advocated for labor laws to protect women who worked in factories. The laws included bans on women working at night. In New York, a small contingent of night-working women who had lost their jobs objected. Arguing that the laws were paternalistic and harmful, they formed the Women’s Equal Opportunity League. The group opposed all single-sex laws and ultimately won repeal of New York’s night work ban for printers, elevator operators, and transit workers. Night work was the stage on which reformers’ ideas about the greater good conflicted with arguments for women’s autonomy. Whether and what kind of work women should do at night was a conflict about class, motherhood, and self-determination. This article profiles three leaders of the Women’s Equal Opportunity League—printer Ella M. Sherwin, transit guard Margaret Hinchey, and streetcar ticket agent Mary A. Murray. All three were devoted union members whose opposition to women-only laws made them dissidents within their unions. They remained shift workers their entire lives while lobbying state legislatures and Congress to demand formal legal equality for women. Histories of the early Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) have emphasized the support of upper- and middle-class women. These working-class women, who had long opposed protective legislation, later demanded the ERA—not in spite of the prospect that it would nullify single-sex labor laws, but because they hoped it would. Theirs was a minority position, and paying attention to it reveals the complexity of class conflict at the root of a feminist dispute which persisted long into the twentieth century.

A pilot study of thecardiopulmonary effects in healthy volunteers after exposure to high levels of PM2.5 in a New York City subway station.

Subway systems are becoming increasingly common worldwide transporting large populations in major cities. PM2.5 concentrations have been demonstrated to be exceptionally high when underground, however. Studies on the impact of subway PM exposure on cardiopulmonary health in the United States are limited. Healthy volunteers in New York City were exposed to a 2-h visit on the 9th Street Station platform on the Port Authority Trans-Hudson train system. Blood pressure, heart rate variability (HRV), spirometry, and forced impulse oscillometry were measured, and urine, blood spot, and nasal swab biosamples were collected for cytokine analysis at the end of the 2-h exposure period. These endpoints were compared against individual control measurements collected after 2-h in a "clean" control space. In addition to paired comparisons, mixed effects models with subject as a random effect were employed to investigate the effect of the PM2.5 concentrations and visit type (i.e., subway vs. control). Mean PM2.5 concentrations on the platform and during the control visit were 293.6 ± 65.7 (SD) and 4.6 ± 1.9µg/m3, respectively. There was no change in any of the health metrics, but there was a non-significant trend for SDNN to be lower after subway exposure compared to control exposure. Total symptomatic scores did increase post-subway exposure compared to reported values prior to exposure or after the control visit. No significant changes in cytokine concentrations in any specimen type were observed. Mixed-effects models mostly corroborated these paired comparisons. Acute exposures to PM on a subway platform do not cause measurable cardiopulmonary effects apart from reductions in HRV and increases in symptoms in healthy volunteers. These findings match other studies that found little to no changes in lung function and blood pressure after exposure in underground subway stations. Future work should still target potentially more vulnerable populations, such as individuals with asthma or those who spend increased time underground on the subway such as transit workers.

Art healing practice program for rail worker mental health

At present, China's rail transportation industry is in a rapid development stage, and the work pressure of rail transportation workers is increasing, and mental health problems are becoming more and more prominent. This study adopts the questionnaire research method to investigate the main factors affecting the mental health of the employees of five rail transit enterprises in Guangdong Province, China and their attitudes towards art healing, and constructs a factor model to conduct a comprehensive analysis by using the SPSS software, which reveals that the work intensity, work pressure and life pressure are the main factors affecting the mental health of the rail transit employees, and that most of the rail transit employees are willing to accept the art healing and believe that art healing is a positive and effective way to solve the mental health problems. Most of the rail transit workers are willing to accept art healing and believe that art healing is a positive and effective way to solve mental health problems. When designing art healing programs, it is necessary to give full consideration to the high work intensity of rail transit workers, and in the case of fewer art healing programs in the existing rail transit industry, it is necessary to actively explore leisure and relaxing art healing programs for the workers in the rail transit industry in order to alleviate and heal the psychological problems of rail transit workers, and to assist in the healthy development of the rail transit industry. The healthy development of rail transportation industry.

Mobility of non-binary and gender nonconforming individuals: A systematic literature review

The gendered nature of travel behaviours and experiences have long been recognised in research and policy making. However, research on non-binary people and their mobility is scarce, as is the acknowledgement of a spectrum nature of gender within the transportation discipline. This paper presents the first systematic literature review, using PRISMA guidelines, of the mobility and travel experiences of non-binary people. The review identified that to date the main research domains for non-binary people's mobility considered issues of harassment and violence on public transit, fear, security measures, intersectionality, and strategies to deal with discrimination. The paper highlights spatial and geographical constraints, such as immobility and inaccessibility, that non-binary people face when interacting with public transportation system. Strategies to improve mobility for the gender nonconforming community included upgrading public transport stations, increasing funding for public transportation, and providing gender diversity training for transit workers. The findings draw attention to the need for substantial further transportation research into the field. By including non-binary perspectives in transport research, a unique range of insights and experiences can be unlocked, while increasing inclusivity in transport research.

Association of Victimization by Sex among Public Facing Bus and Subway Transit Workers, New York City.

Federal data indicate that assaults on transit workers resulting in fatalities or hospitalizations tripled between 2008 and 2022. The data indicated a peri-pandemic surge of assault-related fatalities and hospitalizations, but assaults with less dire outcomes were not recorded. In collaboration with the Transport Workers Union, Local 100, we conducted an online survey in late 2023 through early 2024 of New York City public-facing bus and subway workers that focused on their work experiences during the 2020-2023 period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Items for this analysis on victimization included measures of physical and sexual assault/harassment, verbal harassment/intimidation, theft, and demographic characteristics (e.g., sex, race, work division). We estimated separate modified Poisson models for each of the four outcomes, yielding prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Potential interactions between variables with strong main effects in the adjusted model were further examined using product terms. Among 1297 respondents, 89.0% reported any victimization; respondents also reported physical assault (48.6%), sexual assault/harassment (6.3%), verbal harassment/intimidation (48.7%), and theft on the transit system (20.6%). Physical assault was significantly more common among women in the bus division compared to female subway workers, male bus workers, and male subway workers (adjusted PR (aPR) = 3.54; reference = male subway workers; Wald test p < .001). With the same reference group, sexual assault/harassment was more frequently reported among female subway workers (aPR = 5.15; Wald test, p < .001), but verbal assault/intimidation and experiencing theft were least common among women in the bus division (aPR = 0.22 and 0.13, respectively; Wald tests, p < .001). These data point to the need for greater attention to record and report on victimization against workers in both buses and subway.

The Man with a Million Names: A Personal Essay on Transit Work

This essay is a scholarly personal narrative about transit work, especially the operation of omnibuses, horse cars, trolleys, and trams in New York City in the nineteenth century. The culminating event is the trolley strike of 1895, the longest in New York history, and the theme is the need for solidarity between transit workers and the riding public, and thus for what is now is called union “Bargaining for the Public Good.” In this essay, the author speaks as both a transit worker and an historian.

Proud fathers and fossil fuels: gendered identities and climate obstruction

ABSTRACT While the disproportionate power of corporate and state fossil fuel interests to influence energy and climate policy is now well known, questions remain about the groups that enthusiastically consume such narratives, with far-reaching political consequences. Fossil fuel workers are one such group. Their positions within these debates are highly relevant to policy outcomes, yet their political positions are often assumed to oppose decarbonizing the economy to the detriment of otherwise well-intended interventions. We offer a more nuanced understanding of the sentiments of fossil fuel workers invoked through their public and political engagements. We use the Twitter profiles of 160 self-identified oil and gas workers to explore the nature of oil workers’ masculinity and its implication in climate obstruction and far-right politics. We advocate for engaging workers in the energy transition through meaningful collaboration with workers to build trust and investment in a shared future narrative.

Globalizing transit worker stress

Health scientists have claimed that urban transit workers suffer from higher rates of stress-related disease than workers in most other occupations. This paper examines how a network of scientists and labor organizers constructed the problem of transit worker stress as a global phenomenon. According to study participants, transit workers worldwide are subject to a similar set of stress-related risks, which can serve as a basis for worker solidarity. This paper analyzes how the concept of stress has been used to identify pathogenic environments and considers anthropological claims that the concept often abstracts and depoliticizes harmful arrangements. The findings show that scientists and labor organizers use the stress concept to construct a figure of a universally at-risk transit worker that serves the ends of transnational labor organizing. At the same time, by focusing on the case of San Francisco’s transit workers, this analysis shows that a persistent association between stress and ‘hard work’—in both lay and scientific discourses—may block recognition of stress-related harms for transit workers who are accused of being lazy and overpaid.

"They Don't Really Consider Us Essential, But We Are": a Qualitative Investigation of Vaccine Acceptance and Perceived Workplace Safety Among Black Transit Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Black Americans face a higher risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) morbidity and mortality due to adverse social determinants of health, including their overrepresentation in the frontline workforce. Despite these inequities, increasing vaccine acceptance among this subpopulation has been challenging. We conducted semi-structured qualitative focus groups with Black public transit workers living in the USA to explore behavioral intentions regarding COVID-19 vaccine uptake, occupational health challenges, and the perceived impact of racism on workplace health and safety during the pandemic. A thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the final transcripts. We completed three focus groups (n=10 participants) in October and November of 2021. Enabling factors for vaccination included opportunities for vaccination in the workplace, flexible hours of operation, and walk-in vaccine clinics. Disabling factors included excessive wait times. Some participants also cited lack of cleanliness, inconsistent enforcement of COVID-19 safety protocols, and unclear workplace policies regarding sick and hazard pay as major safety barriers. Perceptions regarding the role of racism in their experiences with COVID-19 as transit workers were mixed. Though occupational health and safety concerns were high, there are opportunities for transit agencies and government officials to improve both vaccine uptake and working conditions for Black transit workers.

Transition from child and adolescent to adult mental health services: an evaluation

Background/Aims Evidence has highlighted dissatisfaction among patients with the process of transitioning from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) to adult mental health services. This study aimed to evaluate compliance with and the impact of recommendations made at a mental health trust to improve the transition process after an audit carried out in 2015. Methods A nine-item audit tool was developed based on National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines for transition from CAMHS to adult mental health services. Patient records were obtained from the trust's health informatics service and analysed for the calendar year of 2015, looking at compliance with the guidance. The results were used to implement recommendations to improve the transition process, then the audit was repeated for the calendar year of 2017. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics to compare the two periods and identify areas of improvement, or lack thereof. Results A total of 52 and 75 case records were audited in the 2015 and 2017 evaluations respectively. Some improvements were seen in some areas over the 2-year period, such as the introduction of a named transition worker and more joint working between child and adolescent and adult mental health services. However, several domains of practice still had low levels of compliance with recommendations in the 2017 audit, particularly items relating to information sharing and communication with patients and their caregivers. Conclusions Further work is needed to improve compliance with recommendations for transitional care in mental health services, particularly in terms of communication and involvement of the patient during this process. More research is needed into the barriers to effective transition and any strategies implemented to improve this process should be evaluated using robust methods. Successful strategies will likely require investment in staff recruitment and retention.

Understanding passenger hostility in transit: a systematic review

Abstract Passenger hostility is commonplace in the transit industry. However, research investigating this job stressor is limited in both scope and quality. This systematic review examines three questions regarding passenger hostility: (a) what is its occurrence (incidence and prevalence); (b) what are its consequences; and (c) what factors are related to its occurrence, intensity, or consequences? Six databases were searched for studies published between 2010 and 2020 reporting the occurrence, consequences, or correlates of passenger hostility directed toward transit workers. Risk of bias was categorized using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. Results were summarized in tables and narratively synthesized. Nineteen eligible studies (10 quantitative and nine qualitative or mixed methods) were identified. Evidence from 14 studies indicated that passenger hostility occurs frequently, and is often underreported, especially in its less severe forms. Sixteen studies reported correlates of the occurrence, intensity, or consequences of hostility, with these grouped into worker, passenger, organizational, environmental, and event categories. Immediate and long-term impacts were identified in ten studies. This review contributes to understanding the likely antecedents, correlates and consequences of passenger hostility directed at transit industry workers. It also highlights some common methodological limitations in past research and proposes solutions to them. As such, the paper provides suggestions for future explorations and intervention targets aimed at reducing this common workplace stressor.

“They Don’t Really Consider Us Essential, But We Are”: a Qualitative Investigation of Vaccine Acceptance and Perceived Workplace Safety Among Black Transit Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“They Don’t Really Consider Us Essential, But We Are”: a Qualitative Investigation of Vaccine Acceptance and Perceived Workplace Safety Among Black Transit Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Associations Between COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Socio-Spatial Factors in NYC Transit Workers 50 Years and Older.

This analysis investigates how age, race/ethnicity, and geographic location contributed to vaccine hesitancy in a sample of 645 New York City (NYC) Transport Workers Union (TWU), Local 100 members surveyed in August 2020. Union members ages 50+ were 46% less likely to be vaccine hesitant than their younger counterparts (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.42, 0.97). Non-Whites (OR 3.95; 95% 2.44, 6.39) and those who did not report their race (OR 3.10; 95% CI 1.87, 5.12) were significantly more likely to be vaccine hesitant than Whites. Those who were not concerned about contracting COVID-19 in the community had 1.83 greater odds (95% CI 1.12, 2.98) of being vaccine hesitant than those who were concerned. Older respondents tended to reside in Queens while vaccine hesitant and non-White respondents were clustered in Brooklyn. General trends observed in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy persist in a population of high risk, non-healthcare essential workers.

Personal indicators of occupational stress of employees working remotely in a pandemic quarantine

This article highlights the problem of occupational stress of workers in the mass transition to remote work caused by the difficult conditions of our time in a pandemic COVID-19. Based on the results of theoretical analysis of scientific literature, the classification of the main models of stress is given. The content, features, factors, consequences of occupational stress of workers working remotely in general in a pandemic in particular are highlight. Personal indicators of occupational stress of employees are revealed. The role of personal qualities of employees in the emergence of occupational stress as a buffer that mediates the impact of stressors, enhancing their action, or inhibiting it, negatively affecting the mental health, psychological safety of employees and the quality of their professional activities are shown. The results of an empirical study show that the influence of stressors, which is significantly enhanced in the forced transition to remote work, causing violations in the communicative, emotional, volitional and need-motivational spheres of personality of employees in general and depending on gender and age and professional features of employees in particular. The expediency of taking into account the personal characteristics of employees to prepare them for the prevention and overcoming of occupational stress, developing the ability of employees to conscious and active stress management and counteracting stressors is stated.

Young Workers in Transition: Explaining the Density Gap by a Life-course Perspective

A common challenge for all trade unions in most of the Western world is the growing trade union density gap between young and older workers. In this paper, we examine the generational trade union gap with point of departure in the Danish case. Our data stem from two large surveys (APL II &amp; III).We find that young workers are not more individualized; to the contrary, unorganized young workers have a growing collective mind-set. Through the lens of a life-course perspective, our data show that young workers have a growing ‘fluidic’ working life. Many young workers also take jobs in parts of the labor market with weak trade unions representation not allowing them to get in contact with trade unions representatives.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Transit Workers: Perceptions of Employer Responses and Associations with Health Factors.

COVID-19 has had a substantial impact on transit workers' lives, especially among public-facing vehicle operators. The current project examined relationships between workers' knowledge and perceptions of their employer's COVID-19 safety responses, job attitudes, and health. We surveyed transit workers (N = 174) between July and August 2020 and followed up 3 months later. Fifty-seven workers responded to the follow-up survey. Surveys addressed workers' knowledge and perceptions of their employer implementing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-recommended COVID-19 safety responses, COVID-19 risk perceptions, job attitudes, and health factors. Employees reported knowledge of their employer implementing ~8 of 12 CDC-recommended responses. The most reported response was informational poster placements; the least reported was designating a point-person for COVID-19 concerns. Significant associations were found between knowledge of employer safety responses and lower COVID-19 risk perceptions, better job attitudes, and greater mental and global health. Operators (i.e. public-facing workers) reported worse perceptions of employer responses, and higher COVID-19 risk perceptions, work stress, and turnover intentions, compared with non-operators. A time-lagged panel model found that COVID-19 risk perceptions significantly mediated the relationship between public-facing work status and follow-up depression, anxiety, stress, and global health. Results reveal opportunities for transit authorities to broaden and better communicate their responses to emergent occupational safety and health crises.

Impacts of COVID-19 on Transport Modes and Mobility Behavior: Analysis of Public Discourse in Twitter.

This study proposes a framework to analyze public discourse in Twitter to understand the impacts of COVID-19 on transport modes and mobility behavior. It also identifies reopening challenges and potential reopening strategies that are discussed by the public. First, the study collects 15,776 tweets that relate to personal opinions on transportation services posted between May 15 and June 15, 2020. Next, it applies text mining and topic modeling techniques to the tweets to determine the prominent themes, terms, and topics in those discussions to understand public feelings, behavior, and broader sentiments about the changes brought about by COVID-19 on transportation systems. Results reveal that people are avoiding public transport and shifting to using private car, bicycle, or walking. Bicycle sales have increased remarkably but car sales have declined. Cycling and walking, telecommuting, and online schools are identified as possible solutions to COVID-19 mobility problems and to reduce car usage with an aim to tackle traffic congestion in the post-pandemic world. People appreciated government decisions for funding allocation to public transport, and asked for the reshaping, restoring, and safe reopening of transit systems. Protecting transit workers, riders, shop customers and staff, and office employees is identified as a crucial reopening challenge, whereas mask wearing, phased reopening, and social distancing are proposed as effective reopening strategies. This framework can be used as a tool by decision makers to enable a holistic understanding of public opinions on transportation services during COVID-19 and formulate policies for a safe reopening.

COVID-19 mortality among Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) and Transport Workers Union (TWU) workers-March-July 2020, New York City metro area.

BackgroundTransit workers have jobs requiring close public contact for extended periods of time, placing them at increased risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection and more likely to have risk factors for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19)‐related complications. Collecting timely occupational data can help inform public health guidance for transit workers; however, it is difficult to collect during a public health emergency. We used nontraditional epidemiological surveillance methods to report demographics and job characteristics of transit workers reported to have died from COVID‐19.MethodsWe abstracted demographic and job characteristics from media scans on COVID‐19 related deaths and reviewed COVID‐19 memorial pages for the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) and Transport Workers Union (TWU). ATU and TWU provided a list of union members who died from COVID‐19 between March 1–July 7, 2020 and a total count of NYC metro area union members. Peer‐reviewed publications identified through a scientific literature search were used to compile comparison demographic statistics of NYC metro area transit workers. We analyzed and reported characteristics of ATU and TWU NYC metro area decedents.ResultsWe identified 118 ATU and TWU NYC metro area transit worker COVID‐19 decedents with an incidence proportion of 0.3%. Most decedents were male (83%); median age was 58 years (range: 39–71). Median professional tenure was 20 years (range: 2–41 years). Operator (46%) was the most reported job classification. More than half of the decedents (57%) worked in positions associated with close public contact.ConclusionData gathered through nontraditional epidemiological surveillance methods provided insight into risk factors among this workforce, demonstrating the need for mitigation plans for this workforce and informing transit worker COVID‐19 guidance as the pandemic progressed.

Impact of occupational exposure to COVID-19 on the physical and mental health of an essential workgroup: New York City transit workers.

Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City (NYC) vowed to “keep the subways running” despite the lack of plans in place for protecting the health and well-being of transit workers. This study was designed to assess the impact of employment during the early phase of the pandemic on this essential frontline workforce. A convenience sample of members (stratified by job title) of the NYC Transport Workers Union, Local 100, was recruited in August 2020 to participate in an anonymous, cross-sectional, internet-based survey. The demographics of the sample participants (N = 645) reflected union membership, ie, 82 percent male, 29 percent Black; 27 percent Hispanic, and 59 percent ≥age 50 years. At the time of the “NYC Pause” (March 22, 2020) when mandatory stay-at-home orders were issued, transit workers had limited worksite protections. Many reported a lack of such basics as face masks (43 percent), hand sanitizer (40 percent), and disposable gloves (34 percent). A high proportion (87 percent) were concerned about getting infected at work. Lack of certain protections was significantly associated with both fear of contagion at work and mental health symptoms. Nearly 24 per­cent of participants reported a history of COVID-19 infection. Self-reported infection was significantly correlated with lack of certain protections, including respiratory masks (p < 0.001), disposable gloves (p < 0.001), and hand sanitizer (p < 0.001). Infection was also significantly associated with mental health symptoms (p < 0.001). By August 2020, despite participants reporting that many worksite protections were then in place, 72 percent of workers were still fearful for their safety at work, eg, because of potential exposure due to passengers not wearing masks, and risk of verbal abuse and physical assault by passengers angered when asked to wear face masks. Workers who were fearful for their safety at work were more than six times more likely to report mental health symptoms (p < 0.001). Lack of worksite protections before “NYC Pause” (March 22, 2020) was significantly associated with self-reported infection, fear, and mental health symptoms in TWU, Local 100 members. To reduce the risk of adverse impacts associated with bioevents in all essential work groups, and across all essential occupational settings, infection control preparedness, early recognition of risk, and implementation of tailored risk reduction strategies are imperative. Pandemic preparedness is fundamental to protecting the health and well-being of essential workers and crucial in controlling the spread of disease in the community. Bioevent preparedness for all essential frontline workgroups will also help reduce occupational health inequities. Workers at risk, regardless of setting, deserve and have the right to equal protections under federal and state law.