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.
(5) “Transportation Agency” has the same meaning as in Section 13975 of the Government Code.
(b) (1) On or before June 30, 2023, the institute is requested to 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 consult with organizations representing subpopulations impacted by street harassment and with transit operators. The institute shall consider existing efforts by a transit operator to collect survey data and
make recommendations on how a transit operator may use or update available survey data instead of collecting new survey data.
(c) On or before June 30, 2024, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute for this purpose, 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 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. The transit operator shall also conduct outreach activities with subpopulations of riders who are underrepresented in surveys and impacted by street
harassment to gain insight into the perspectives of these riders based on their experiences, that may include focus groups, participatory workshops, or other methods of engaging riders. 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 may be determined by the Transportation Agency to have been collected pursuant to this subdivision.
(d) (1) On or before June 30, 2025, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute for this purpose, 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 paragraph (3), and may be developed in consultation with 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 any 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, private security, or other law
enforcement, such as increasing the presence of unarmed transit ambassadors or crisis intervention specialists.
(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 shall develop and implement the plan
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 riders, and LGBTQ+ riders. In consulting with riders, a transit operator shall conduct outreach in multiple languages to reach 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 persons in the community served by the transit operator according to the most recent American Community Survey by the United States Census Bureau.
(4) A transit operator may meet the requirements of this subdivision if it has taken action in the five years before the effective date of this section that otherwise meets the requirements of this subdivision, as determined by the Transportation Agency.
(e) A transit operator shall provide to the
Transportation Agency the following information:
(1) A summary of the survey data collected by the transit operator pursuant to subdivision (c), including any survey data collected in the five years before the effective date of this section determined by the Transportation Agency to have been collected pursuant to that subdivision.
(2) A description of the plan developed by the transit operator, actions taken to implement the plan, and efforts to consult riders, pursuant to subdivision (d), including any actions taken in the five years before the effective date of this section determined by the Transportation Agency to otherwise meet the requirements of that
subdivision.
(3) An evaluation of the plan, including its effectiveness in reducing street harassment, improving the safety of public transit, and increasing ridership on public transit, and identifying any additional needs that remain unmet in reducing street harassment.
(f) (1) On or before January 1, 2027, the Transportation Agency shall produce and submit a report to the Legislature and the Governor that assesses the survey data, plans, actions, and self-evaluations of the transit operators and summarizes key findings and insights. The report shall include, but not be limited to, a summary of the information provided by a transit operator pursuant to subdivision (e) and an evaluation by the Transportation Agency of the effectiveness of the
transit operator in reducing street harassment and any additional needs that remain unmet.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(g) (1) An appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute for the implementation of this section shall not be used by a transit operator to increase transit police, private security, or other law enforcement.
(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or restrict a transit operator’s use of any other funds, separate from those appropriated by the Legislature for implementation of this section, for purposes related to reducing street
harassment or for any other purpose.
(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 a plan where the transit operator does not already have jurisdiction to develop or implement the plan.
for addressing street harassment perpetrated in facilities or rights-of-way in which it currently has no legal jurisdiction.