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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Learning About Street Harassment On Transit: A Survey Instrument For Transit Agencies, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Jon Canapary, Carol Anne Caroll, Tam J. Guy, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris Dec 2023

Learning About Street Harassment On Transit: A Survey Instrument For Transit Agencies, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Jon Canapary, Carol Anne Caroll, Tam J. Guy, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

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 …


Transportation Utility Fee To Fund Transit In California, Shishir Mathur, Ralph Robinson Jun 2022

Transportation Utility Fee To Fund Transit In California, Shishir Mathur, Ralph Robinson

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Public transit is a key tool to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to combat climate change; improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers; and expand accessibility and mobility for all. However, we can only realize this potential by making sufficient investments to provide transit service levels that attract and retain greater ridership. To help with this needed investment, a handful of local governments have turned to transportation utility fees (TUFs), primarily collected as a monthly charge on customers' utility bills or property tax bills. While more widely used to support street maintenance, this study identifies six case studies where TUF …


City Best Practices To Improve Transit Operations And Safety, Michelle Derobertis, Christopher E. Ferrell, Richard W. Lee, David Moore Apr 2021

City Best Practices To Improve Transit Operations And Safety, Michelle Derobertis, Christopher E. Ferrell, Richard W. Lee, David Moore

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Public, fixed-route transit services most commonly operate on public streets. In addition, transit passengers must use sidewalks to access transit stops and stations. However, streets and sidewalks are under the jurisdiction of municipalities, not transit agencies. Various municipal policies, practices, and decisions affect transit operations, rider convenience, and passenger safety. Thus, these government entities have an important influence over the quality, safety, and convenience of transit services in their jurisdictions. This research identified municipal policies and practices that affect public transport providers’ ability to deliver transit services. They were found from a comprehensive literature review, interviews and discussions with five …


Does “See Something, Say Something” Work?, Brian Michael Jenkins, Bruce R. Butterworth Dec 2018

Does “See Something, Say Something” Work?, Brian Michael Jenkins, Bruce R. Butterworth

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Do “See Something, Say Something” programs work? The evidence strongly suggests that in the specific case of public surface transportation, the answer is “yes.” Transport staff and passengers play an important role in the prevention of terrorist attacks. By discovering and reporting suspicious objects, they have prevented more than 10 percent of all terrorist attacks on public surface transportation. Detection rates are even better in the economically advanced countries where more than 14 percent of the attempts are detected—and have been improving. This MTI Security Perspective analyzes detections since 1970 and suggests that “See Something, Say Something” campaigns are worthwhile.


Bus Transit Operational Efficiency Resulting From Passenger Boardings At Park-And-Ride Facilities, John S. Niles, J. M. Pogodzinski Sep 2016

Bus Transit Operational Efficiency Resulting From Passenger Boardings At Park-And-Ride Facilities, John S. Niles, J. M. Pogodzinski

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

In order to save time and money by not driving to an ultimate destination, some urban commuters drive themselves a few miles to specially designated parking lots built for transit customers and located where trains or buses stop. The focus of this paper is the effect Park-and-Ride (P&R) lots have on the efficiency of bus transit as measured in five bus transit systems in the western U.S. This study describes a series of probes with models and data to find objective P&R influence measures that, when combined with other readily-available data, permit a quantitative assessment of the significance of P&R …


Improving Pathways To Transit For Persons With Disabilities, Stephanie Dipetrillo, Andrea Lubin, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Carla Salehian, Stephen Gibson, Kristen William, Theodore Trent Green Aug 2016

Improving Pathways To Transit For Persons With Disabilities, Stephanie Dipetrillo, Andrea Lubin, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Carla Salehian, Stephen Gibson, Kristen William, Theodore Trent Green

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Persons with disabilities can achieve a greater degree of freedom when they have full access to a variety of transit modes, but this can only be achieved when the pathways to transit – the infrastructure and conditions in the built environment – allow full access to transit stops, stations, and vehicles. Since passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, many transit agencies and governmental jurisdictions have made significant progress in this area. Policy initiatives, incremental enhancements, modifications, and other measures undertaken by transit agencies and their partners have significantly improved access to transit for persons with disabilities, …


The Benefits Of Transit In The United States: A Review And Analysis Of Benefit-Cost Studies, Christopher E. Ferrell Jul 2015

The Benefits Of Transit In The United States: A Review And Analysis Of Benefit-Cost Studies, Christopher E. Ferrell

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

This white paper presents the findings from a review and analysis of the available literature on benefit-cost (b-c) estimates of existing U.S. transit systems. Following an inventory of the literature, the b-c estimates from each study were organized according to the type of study area (e.g., rural, small urban, urban, etc.). Through this process, categories of monetary transit benefits were identified. The estimated dollar value for each benefit category was divided by the total estimated costs of providing the transit services, thus creating a benefit-specific b-c ratio for each category and allowing benefits from each study to be compared on …


Changes In Transit Use And Service And Associated Changes In Driving Near A New Light Rail Transit Line, Mti Report 12-44, Hilary Nixon, Marlon Boarnet, Doug Houston, Steven Spears May 2015

Changes In Transit Use And Service And Associated Changes In Driving Near A New Light Rail Transit Line, Mti Report 12-44, Hilary Nixon, Marlon Boarnet, Doug Houston, Steven Spears

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Los Angeles is pursuing possibly the most ambitious rail transit investment program in the nation with plans to open six new rail transit lines between now and 2019. The report provides policy makes and planners a better understanding of the potential impacts of Los Angeles Metro’s rail transit investment program by assessing the changes in transit use of nearby residents and nearby bus service associated with the Expo Line, the first of the six new lines. Our findings indicate that changes in bus service that are coincident with the introduction of new light rail transit can negatively affect the overall …


California Transportation Security Summits, Mti Report S-01-04, Mti Apr 2003

California Transportation Security Summits, Mti Report S-01-04, Mti

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

In the aftermath of September 11, it became undeniably clear that terrorists target civil transport systems and are willing to use transport systems as weapons of mass destruction as well as targets. In response to this threat, America ’s transportation community must adopt more effective measures to insure the safety of the millions of passengers and employees who use or work in transit facilities every day. To meet this heightened responsibility, leaders of the transportation community need high-quality information and appropriate policy guidance. To help meet this need, the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI)—a leader in transportation terrorism research since the …


Protecting Public Surface Transportation Against Terrorism And Serious Crime: Continuing Research On Best Security Practices, Mti Report 01-07, Brian M. Jenkins Oct 2001

Protecting Public Surface Transportation Against Terrorism And Serious Crime: Continuing Research On Best Security Practices, Mti Report 01-07, Brian M. Jenkins

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Terrorist attacks on commercial aviation had declined significantly after reaching a high point in the 1970s. The devastating consequences of the four coordinated hijackings and deliberate crashes of three of the planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001—an event unprecedented in the annals of terrorism—have wiped out all sense of progress and focused national attention on aviation security. Meanwhile, terrorists have continued to attack public surface transportation worldwide with no indication of abatement in these attacks.1 With large-scale indiscriminate violence clearly the reality of contemporary terrorism and growing …