Bill Text: CA SB1161 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Transit operators: street harassment survey.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Passed) 2022-09-13 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 318, Statutes of 2022. [SB1161 Detail]
Download: California-2021-SB1161-Amended.html
Bill Title: Transit operators: street harassment survey.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Passed) 2022-09-13 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 318, Statutes of 2022. [SB1161 Detail]
Download: California-2021-SB1161-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Senate
May 02, 2022 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
April 06, 2022 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
March 17, 2022 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 1161
| Introduced by Senator Min (Coauthor: Senator Rubio) (Coauthor: Assembly Member Santiago) |
February 17, 2022 |
An act to add Section 99177 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1161, as amended, Min.
Transit operators: street harassment plans.
Existing law creates various transit districts throughout the state, with specified powers and duties relative to providing public transit service. Existing law provides various provisions applicable to all public transit and transit districts.
This bill would require the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies to, on or before June 30, 2023, develop and make available to transit operators, as defined, a survey for the purpose of promoting consistency in the collection of specified survey data. The bill would require transit operators to, on or before June 30, 2025, develop and implement a plan to reduce the street harassment experienced by its riders, as specified, and to consider the safety concerns and needs of riders impacted by street harassment when planning, designing, and operating their systems. The bill would
require transit operators to, on or before June 30, 2024, collect survey data for the purpose of informing the plan. The bill would require the plan to be developed in consultation with certain riders, and would require those transit operators to conduct outreach in multiple languages in order to reach limited English proficient limited-English-proficient persons impacted by street harassment, as specified. The bill would authorize these plans to include changes to policies, design, operations, or other aspects of transit systems, as specified. The bill would require the Transportation Agency to, on or before January 1, 2027, produce and submit a report containing certain information related to the implementation of these provisions to the Legislature and the Governor. To the extent the bill imposes additional duties on
a local agency, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) Public transportation ensures that each person may enjoy the freedom of movement. Providing a safe journey for women and other vulnerable communities will increase ridership throughout the public transit system.
(b) The State of California would benefit from an expanded concept of ridership safety. Transit operators must go beyond their traditional definition that refers exclusively to physical infrastructure and prevention of bodily injury to riders, cyclists, and pedestrians. An expanded understanding of safety is
necessary. Safety is not merely the freedom from harm but also the freedom to move by fully accessing public transit without street harassment.
(c) Street harassment on public transit diminishes ridership growth, undermines riders’ safety, hurts all riders, and can reinforce social inequality and economic hardship throughout a rider’s lifetime.
(d) Women and girls, particularly those of color and those in the LGBTQ+ communities, are often the targets of street harassment on public transit. Such harassment includes unwanted sexual and racialized comments and slurs, whistling, leering, and other intimidating actions. According to a 2019 statewide study by the University of California, San Diego Center on Gender Equity and Health, 77 percent of women experience sexual harassment in a
public space, including 29 percent on mass transit. Furthermore, women who identify as lesbian or bisexual are more likely to report experiencing sexual harassment than straight women.
(e) A 2019 bay area study by Alliance for Girls found that girls, including transgender girls, cisgender girls, and nonconforming youth, in the Cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland expressed feeling unsafe on public transportation due to the daily harassment they experience on buses and trains on their way to and from school.
(f) According to a 2019 report by Los Angeles Metro Rail, safety is the primary barrier to riding transit for women. Fear of harassment leads to behavioral adjustments and precautions by women riders, including leaving a bus or train mid-trip to avoid harassment,
avoiding travel in the evening, avoiding certain settings such as crowded buses, and not walking alone.
(g) Low-income women face even greater barriers to movement, including safety concerns, poor walking environments, lower access to driver’s licenses, and transit inefficiencies such as long travel times and infrequent service. Unlike more affluent women, low-income women have fewer private transportation options.
(h) Women of color on public transit experience even more threats to their safety. According to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, women of color report feeling more unsafe on public transportation than women who identify as white.
(i) Data collected by the Stop AAPI Hate coalition finds that nearly
40 percent of the nationwide acts of hate against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders happen in California, and hate incidents involving women make up nearly two-thirds of all reports in the state. Most of these hate incidents involve verbal harassment and occur in public spaces, including public transit.
(j) Despite more violations to their safety on public transit, women of color are also more dependent on public transit. According to the Center for American Progress, women of color experience a persistent gender wage gap in conjunction with racial bias in the workplace, which leaves them perpetually underpaid. Without the economic means for private transportation options, women of color are more likely to be dependent on public transportation.
(k) Riders significantly underreport
instances of street harassment. Research published by the University of California, Los Angeles Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies finds that only 10 percent of people who experienced or observed sexual harassment on transit reported the incident. Research collected by the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University finds that street harassment is underreported globally as women are often embarrassed and reluctant to report when public culture puts the blame on the victims of harassment.
(l) The Legislature affirms that protecting transit riders’ safety, providing transit journeys free from street harassment, and ensuring equal access to transportation are public policy priorities.
(m) Public transit operators can increase ridership on their systems
by ensuring all riders travel safely and free from street harassment. When riders feel safe waiting at transit stops and riding transit, they will increasingly use public transit. In turn, the growing ridership enables the public transit system to thrive.
SEC. 2.
Section 99177 is added to the Public Utilities Code, immediately following Section 99176, to read:99177.
(a) For the purpose of this section, the following definitions apply:(1) “Institute” means the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies.
(2) “Street harassment” means words, gestures, or actions directed at a specific person in a public place, without the consent of that person,
because of a characteristic listed or defined in Section 11135 of the Government Code, that the person experiences as intimidating, alarming, terrorizing, or threatening to their safety. For the purposes of this section, street harassment because of age shall include any chronological age.
(3) “Survey data” means information regarding public transit riders and their experiences using public transit, including, but not limited to, demographic information about riders and information about their experiences with safety, including, but not limited to, street harassment.
(4) “Transit operator” means the 10 transit operators, as defined in Section 99210, with the most unlinked passenger trips in 2019 in the state, according to the National Transit Database.
(b) (1) On or before June 30, 2023, the institute shall develop and make available to transit operators a survey for the purpose of promoting consistency in the collection of survey data pursuant to subdivision (c).
(2) The survey shall include questions asking for the following information:
(A) Demographic information regarding riders, including their race, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, income, primary language, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.
(B) Information regarding a rider’s experiences with safety while waiting at public transit stops and riding public transit, including:
(i) Whether a rider experiences street harassment.
(ii) The frequency with which a rider experiences street harassment.
(iii) The type of street harassment experienced by a rider.
(iv) The actual or perceived characteristics that serve as the basis for street harassment experienced by a rider.
(v) Where and when a rider experiences street harassment, including on what mode of transit.
(vi) Whether a rider experiencing street harassment is alone or accompanied by others.
(vii) Whether a rider experiencing street harassment reports the incident, and, if so, to whom and the response received.
(viii) The impact of street harassment on a rider, including whether and how they change their use of transit.
(ix) A rider’s perceptions of safety while using transit.
(3) In developing the survey, the institute shall consider existing efforts by a transit operator to collect survey data and how a transit operator may use or update available survey data instead of collecting new survey data.
(c) On or before June 30, 2024, a transit operator shall collect survey data for the purpose of informing the plan required by subdivision (d) to
reduce the street harassment experienced by its riders. The transit operator shall also conduct focus groups with subpopulations of riders who are underrepresented in surveys and impacted by street harassment. The transit operator shall collect, at a minimum, the information described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b), provided that any such information collected in the five years before the effective date of this section shall be deemed to have been collected pursuant to this subdivision. The transit operator may, but is not required to, use the survey developed and made available by the institute, and may ask additional questions beyond the questions included in the survey.
(d) (1) On or before June 30, 2025, a transit operator shall do both of the following:
(A) Develop and begin implementing a plan to reduce the street harassment experienced by its riders. The plan shall be based on, and informed by, the survey data collected pursuant to subdivision (c). The plan shall be developed in consultation with riders, as set forth in subdivision (e), and relevant local governments or private enterprises with ownership and jurisdiction over portions of the transit system, such as bus shelters.
(B) Consider the safety concerns and needs of riders impacted by street harassment when planning, designing, and operating its system.
(2) The plan may, but need not, include changes to policies, design, operations, or other aspects of transit systems under the jurisdiction of the transit operator or relevant local government or private
entity, such as all of the following:
(A) Performing safety audits of transit systems or parts thereof that consider the experiences of riders by gender.
(B) Developing a rubric, questionnaire, or other tool to analyze and understand the impacts of prospective changes to transit system policies, design, or operations on riders by gender or other characteristics such as socioeconomic status.
(C) Increasing the presence of transit staff who are not transit police or other law enforcement.
(D) Improving the physical infrastructure of transit vehicles, stations, and stops to increase the safety and perception of safety for riders.
(E) Improving the frequency, timing, and reliability of service.
(F) Training transit staff about when and how the law or transit
policies require them to respond to and report incidents of street harassment.
(G) Conducting educational and awareness raising campaigns regarding street harassment.
(3) A transit operator may meet the requirements of this subdivision if it has taken action on or after January 1, 2018, that otherwise meets the requirements of this subdivision.
(e) A transit operator shall develop and implement the plan required pursuant to subdivision (d) in consultation with riders. These riders shall include subpopulations of riders at increased or disproportionate risk of experiencing street harassment, which may include, but not be limited to, women riders, non-English speaking
non-English-speaking riders, and LGBTQ+ riders. In consulting with riders, a transit operator shall conduct outreach in multiple languages to reach limited English proficient limited-English-proficient riders impacted by street harassment. The languages may be determined by survey data or by the top non-English languages used by limited English proficient limited-English-proficient persons in the community served by the transit operator according to the most recent American Community Survey by the United States Census Bureau.
(f) (1) On or before January 1, 2027, the Transportation Agency shall produce and submit a report to the Legislature and the Governor that shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following information regarding a transit operator:
(A) A summary of the survey data collected by a transit operator pursuant to subdivision (c).
(B) A description of the plan developed by a transit operator pursuant to subdivision (d) and any actions taken to implement the plan, including the transit operator’s efforts to engage riders pursuant to subdivision (e).
(C) An evaluation of actions taken by a transit operator to reduce the street harassment
experienced by its riders, including, but not limited to, both of the following:
(i) The effectiveness of the plan in reducing the street harassment experienced by riders, improving the safety of public transit, and increasing ridership on public transit.
(ii) Any additional unmet needs faced by the transit operator in reducing street harassment on its system.
(2) (A) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under paragraph (1) is inoperative on January 1, 2031, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
(B) A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code.
(g) A transit operator shall provide the information described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (f) to the Transportation Agency.
(h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create new or additional liability for a transit operator for failing to respond to an incident of street harassment.
(i) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a transit operator to develop or implement the plan where the transit operator does not already have jurisdiction to develop or implement the plan.
