SFMTA announces new initiative to address safety

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is developing a new Safety Equity Initiative. The goal of the initiative is to reduce and eventually eliminate gender-based harassment and violence on Muni.

SFMTA says gender-based harassment is one of the most widespread and persistent forms of violence. It impacts female identifying and gender nonconforming people of all ages, abilities, races, ethnicities and cultural and language groups. SFMTA adds women often feel unsafe on transit, which impacts how often they ride, when they ride and if they ride at all--especially true for people of color, and gender-based harassment disproportionately impacts community members who are Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC).

The Safety Equity Initiative will center the experiences of the most transit-reliant community members and build community-focused solutions. SFMTA's initial steps will focus on understanding the scope and gravity of the issues through data collection and outreach. SFMTA will partner with community-based organizations, riders and staff to enhance the existing reporting structure and implement data-driven security upgrades.

New reporting options

SFMTA says it recognizes gender-based harassment often goes unreported. That’s why SFMTA is expanding reporting options on its Muni Feedback form and the 311 Customer Service phone line.

In the coming days, users and bystanders will be able to report different types of gender-based harassment incidents, their location and other information that will help SFMTA understand the scope of the problem better, identify possible improvements and track progress.

These incidents can include inappropriate, unwanted contact, gestures or comments, staring, groping, indecent exposure, abuse and violence of a sexual or nonsexual nature. Some of these incidents may also be criminal acts. All of them are unacceptable, and SFMTA says it has a duty to work to end these behaviors.

Why focus on gender and racial equity

Gender-based harassment doesn’t happen in a vacuum. SFMTA explains it’s often targeted at BIPOC and low-income women and can be laced with racism. LGBTQIA people are also frequently subjected to gender-based harassment that is laced with homophobia and transphobia. At the same time, people who belong to groups with less power and resources in society tend to be less likely to report it to when they’re harassed.

By elevating equity as a key part of this safety initiative, SFMTA says it wants to signal that it is seeking engagement and partnership from all the diverse groups of people who are impacted by gender-based harassment. This includes trans women and girls, non-binary people, gender non-conforming people, gender queer people, cis girls and cis women and any woman- and girl-identified individuals. SFMTA will also work to educate and engage men and boys to help prevent harassment.

SFMTA says its staff were inspired by BART’s Not One More Girl campaign, which has been a model for building partnerships and community-driven solutions around gender-based safety challenges. Similarly, SFMTA wants to collaborate with a diversity of stakeholders, community-based organizations and community members to develop community-centered solutions that make the transportation system safer for all – staff, riders and bystanders.