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Homelessness and Public Transit: Characteristics and Experiences of Unsheltered Public Transit Riders in Los Angeles - Public transportation (PT) is the primary mode of transit use by people experiencing homelessness (Murphy, 2019). For unhoused residents, public transit provides respite from the elements along with other amenities such as internet, similar to libraries (Kelleher, 2013). In Los Angeles County (LA), the homeless population has grown by more than 50% since 2015 (LAHSA, n.d.), and represents an increasingly visible segment of the LA transit riding population. This visibility has garnered significant media attention and sparked both public ire and concerns of public safety on PT (Ramos & DuBose, 2023). In response to homeless ridership, transit authorities typically use a mix of punitive tools (move-along orders and quality-of-life enforcement) and outreach teams (often to homelessness services connections) (Ding et al., 2022). The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has adopted an outreach-forward policy, deploying multidisciplinary outreach teams across LA to connect unhoused residents with services. At the same time, Metro has increased private security and law enforcement visibility and has declared intentions of reducing fare evasion. However, how unhoused transit riders experience these approaches, how they experience public transportation generally, and the downstream consequences of transit policies for transportation access and general wellbeing of unhoused residents remains understudied. Additionally, few studies have examined the distinctive characteristics of homeless transit riders.
This mixed methods study aims to fill these gaps by pairing a quantitative analysis of the characteristics of unhoused transit users with a qualitative examination of the transit and service experiences of unhoused transit riders utilizing LA’s PT system. The purpose of this study is to produce insights to improve homelessness services aimed at unhoused residents who use and sleep on public transportation. In particular, the study aims to understand the shelter choices of unhoused riders, experiences with homelessness outreach workers, police and private security, and other passengers, and the unique housing and service barriers and needs of unhoused transit riders.
