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AirTalk

How to make LA buses and subway a safer place

By AirTalk Staff
Published Feb 24, 2015
LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 03: Passengers board Metrolink subway trains during rush hour on June 3, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. Skyrocketing gas prices are driving more commuters to take trains and buses to work instead of their cars. In the first three months of 2008, the number of trips taken on public transport in the US rose 3 percent to 2.6 billion, creating pressures on some transportation systems to cope with increasing ridership. Transit officials in southern California and elsewhere are now encouraging employers to stagger employee schedules to ease the rush hour crunch on trains and buses and Metrolink plans to add107 rail cars to its fleet of 155 as soon as next year. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
Passengers board Metrolink subway trains during rush hour on June 3, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. Skyrocketing gas prices are driving more commuters to take trains and buses to work instead of their cars.
(
David McNew/Getty Images
)
Listen 23:13
How to make LA buses and subway a safer place

A new survey from Los Angeles Metro finds that 22 percent of bus and subway riders had experienced "unwanted sexual behavior including, but not limited to, touching, exposure, or inappropriate comments" over a six-month period.

It’s not a problem unique to Los Angeles. From New York to New Delhi, public transport officials have had to deal with sexual harassment issues facing passengers. What could be done to address the problem? If you ride the bus or the subway, have you ever been a target of unwanted sexual behavior?

Guests:

Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Professor of Urban Planning at UCLA. Her research focuses on public transportation and women’s safety issues

Genevieve Berrick, founder and site leader of Hollaback L.A., which brings attention to harassment of women in public spaces