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Sexual Harassment On Metro Is Slightly Down
Riding the Metro (Photo by Gary Kavanagh via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
It's too early to tell if Metro's efforts to cut down on sexual harassment are working, but the most recent rider survey shows that the numbers are slightly down.Metro's blog The Source released the results of their customer survey, collected from almost 20,000 riders in the Spring of this year, in which 18% of bus riders and 21% of train riders say they experienced "any form of sexual harassment." Although not a drastic decrease, both figures are down from the 22% on the last survey. Also new to the most recent survey is differentiation between different types of sexual harassment. On both buses and trains, 7% of riders say they were subject to groping, fondling, or any other form of unwanted contact. For non-physical harassment, 14% of bus riders say they were victimized while the number is slightly higher at 17% for train riders.
The data also includes incidents of indecent exposure that riders experienced, with 7% of bus riders and 10% of train riders. "That number strikes me as high but it should also be understood that various riders may have various criteria for what they consider indecent exposure," the post reads. "In other words, that's a number that includes those who may be underdressed." The sheriff's department says they receive very few calls about indecent exposure or flashing.
While it's promising that the numbers have, it's still distressing that the number of riders reporting sexual harassment still hovers around 1-in-5. We don't have the raw data, but it feels almost like this drop just falls within the error bars of the last survey.
Another interesting figure collected in this year's survey is the number of riders who use a skateboard, with 2% of bus riders and 3% of train riders. "Unlike bikes, skateboards are very portable and easy to bring aboard a bus or train," reads Metro's assessment.
Overall, though, riders seem satisfied with their Metro experience. Rail riders' satisfaction remains high at around 90%, while bus riders saw an uptick from last year's figure of around 85%.
Check out of the rest of the survey results below:
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