Methodology

The research combined one-to-one and group interviews with women and a focus group with girls living in Scotland who were either ‘users’ of public transport or were ‘frontline workers’ on buses and trains. A total of 35 women and girls from a diverse range of backgrounds took part, ranging in age from 14 to 86 years old.

Interviews explored: the nature, frequency and purpose of public transport use; women’s feelings and perceptions of personal safety on public transport; the interaction between personal circumstances and feelings of safety; personal testimonies of women in relation to specific incidents which had made them or known others feel unsafe when using public transport in the past; any negative impacts or consequences of safety concerns on restricting or limiting women’s travel choices; and discussions around what changes could be made to make women and girls feel safer. For transport workers, questions were also asked around what made them feel safe/unsafe both at work and travelling to/from work, as well as personal safety training received to protect both themselves and vulnerable others.

An online stakeholder workshop was also held which brought together representatives from transport operators, regional transport partnerships, British Transport Police (BTP) and third sector organisations working with and representing the interests of women and girls, among others. The workshop provided an opportunity to present the findings from the qualitative work to relevant partners, alongside draft recommendations arising from the research, so that stakeholders could discuss and advise on how best these could be taken forward.