This study reports variation in safety perceptions in transit environments, based on samples of university students in 18 cities on six continents who responded to an identical 45-question survey (N= 13,323 university students). We explore potential links between students’ fears and sexual victimization and conclude that sexual harassment affects their behavior and mobility. Student mobility was affected by avoidance strategies prompting some transit riders to travel at particular times, on travel routes and settings that are deemed especially risky, or even avoiding using transit completely. Findings highlight the importance of city–country contexts for transit safety.

This article assesses space–time variations of crime rates in underground stations. Drawing on assumptions from time geography, routine activity principles, and defensible space theory, the study investigates daily, weekly, and seasonal variations of crime at underground stations in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. Data from extensive field work at the stations was combined with crime records and passenger flow to test whether stations’ environmental attributes affect crime at different times. Geographical information systems, spatial statistic techniques, and modeling underpin the methodology used in the study. Findings show that crimes tend to happen more often in the evening, at night, on holidays, and on weekends. There is also evidence of seasonal variations of crime. In the winter, stations with social disturbance and signs of deterioration show high levels of crime, whereas in the summer, offenses are concentrated in stations nearby alcohol selling outlets. Stations with hiding spots are often targeted for crime during daily peak hours, whereas during holidays, crowded stations and those with alcohol selling outlets attract more criminal activities. Results suggest that the role of the stations’ environment on crime causation varies over time—an important fact for safety interventions.

This article reviews five decades of English and French literature on transit safety in several major databases, with the focus on Scopus and ScienceDirect. The review explores the nature and frequency of transit crime and passengers’ safety perceptions in transport nodes and along the trip using bibliometric analysis and a systematic review of the literature. The number of retrieved documents was 3137, and 245 were selected for in-depth analysis. Transit safety as a research area took off after the mid-1990s and peaked after the 2010s. The body of research is dominated by the English-language literature (mostly large cities), with a focus on the safety of rail-bound environments and examples of interventions to improve actual and perceived safety for public transportation (PT) users. Highlighting the importance of transit environments along the whole trip, the article also helps advocate for more inclusion of passengers’ safety needs and the involvement of multiple stakeholders in implementing PT policies.