Active Travel: Women
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on whether women and girls are more likely to experience abuse and harassment while (a) walking and (b) cycling, compared to using public transport.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood
The ‘Personal Safety on Transport’ survey research was published in February this year.
The findings are based on a survey of 4,900 adults across Great Britain and show the proportion of public transport users who experienced things that undermine personal safety on the transport network. In the 12 months before the survey, 28% of public transport users experienced sexual harassment or unwanted behaviour overall, rising to 54% of females aged 18 to 34. Also 14% of public transport users had experienced force, violence (or threats of), physical intimidation, verbal abuse, and theft (or attempted) and again these experiences were more common for females aged 18-34.
While the Department does not hold data on whether women and girls are more likely to experience abuse and harassment while walking, cycling or using public transport, the research did examine how safe people feel getting to, waiting for and travelling on the transport network. It found that 32% of females felt safe walking and 34% felt safe cycling to public transport stops after dark. This compares with around half of females who feel safe travelling on a train (52%) or bus (51%) after dark.
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