Unhoused on the Move: Impact of COVID-19 on Homelessness in Transit Environments

Loukaitou‐Sideris, Anastasia; Wasserman, Jacob L; Caro, Ryan; Ding, Hao

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-00148-2_3

Cited by 5 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…In a recent survey of 115 transit agencies in the U.S. and Canada, we found that staff, especially at large transit agencies, consider responding to homelessness as an important (albeit not their most important) priority ( 2 ). Nevertheless, only a small share of transit agencies has developed formal policies to respond to homelessness (29% in Boyle [ 8 ]; 19% in our 2020 survey, which included more small operators [ 2 ]). Many such policies attempt to address specific behaviors often associated with unhoused individuals, rather than a specific group of riders ( 8 ).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These efforts entail bans on camping, panhandling, staying on vehicles at the end of lines, or carrying large items, as well as so-called sweeps (forced removals of unhoused people and disposal of their belongings) ( 2 , 9 ). In both a 2016 survey by Boyle and the 2020 survey by the authors, around four in 10 transit operators reported conducting sweeps of places where unsheltered people congregate ( 2 , 8 ). Sweeps around highways and underpasses also represent a common practice of state departments of transportation ( 5 ).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sweeps around highways and underpasses also represent a common practice of state departments of transportation ( 5 ). More than half of the surveyed operators enforce anti-loitering laws ( 8 ), and around half of those surveyed in 2020 also use “hostile architecture” ( 2 )—design that prevents or impairs lying or sitting, such as middle armrests on benches ( 10 – 12 ). Scholars have criticized such practices for punishing people merely for being visible in public spaces ( 13 , 14 ) and for displacing homelessness instead of reducing it ( 15 , 16 ).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Homelessness as a societal problem is beyond the control of transit agencies. Most lack external funding and other resources to effectively respond to it ( 2 ). This, combined with negative reactions toward unhoused riders from other riders and a general lack of knowledge about best practices, often leaves transit agencies—and their unhoused riders—in a helpless position.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this article, we present case studies of response strategies adopted by several agencies to address homelessness on their systems. We selected these strategies based on a nationwide survey of transit agencies we conducted in 2020 ( 2 ). The identified programs vary in scope, impact, resource burden, and organizational complexity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

“It Is Our Problem!”: Strategies for Responding to Homelessness on Transit

Loukaitou‐Sideris¹,

Wasserman²,

Ding³

et al. 2022

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation R

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Buses, bus stops, trains, and train platforms represent sites of shelter for many of the over 500,000 Americans who are unhoused every night. This study seeks to understand how transit agencies are responding to them. Based on interviews with staff members and partners at 10 different transit agencies and on program performance data, where available, we provide detailed case studies of four sets of strategies taken in response to homelessness on transit systems: hub of services, mobile outreach, discounted fares, and transportation to shelters. We analyze each strategy’s scope, implementation, impact, challenges, and lessons learned. Reviewing these strategies, we note that they may differ depending on the context, need, and available resources. We find value in transit agencies fostering external partnerships with social service organizations and other municipal departments and keeping law enforcement distinct from routine homeless outreach. We also underline the key need for funding from other levels of government to allow transit operators to adopt, expand, and refine homelessness response programs.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

“It Is Our Problem!”: Strategies for Responding to Homelessness on Transit

Loukaitou‐Sideris¹,

Wasserman²,

Ding³

et al. 2022

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation R

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Community perspectives on how decentralising an emergency shelter influences transportation needs and use for persons experiencing homelessness

Canham

Rose

Jones

et al. 2022

Health Social Care Comm

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Despite steady increases in homelessness in the U.S., only recently has research on transportation needs and use for persons experiencing homelessness (PEH) been the focus of research endeavours. Moreover, limited research has identified how the geographic relocation of homeless community services and resources impacts the transportation needs of PEH and how this process affects access to health and social services. To fill this gap in the literature, using a community‐engaged research approach, we conducted a qualitative research study in which 24 professionals working in planning, transportation, local government, and the homelessness services sector were engaged in in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews. We examined participant perspectives on how PEH transportation needs and use changed after three new emergency shelters replaced a centralised one, and how access to health and social services was impacted. Data were organised into three overarching categories: (1) Changes in transportation need and use following decentralisation; (2) Impact of transportation changes on PEH access to services; and (3) Recommendations for improving transportation access. Findings suggest the need to offer PEH transportation on demand, provide education on transportation and system navigation, and increase transportation‐related funding for homeless service providers and PEH to ensure transportation costs are not a barrier to healthcare and social services.

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Content Analysis on Homelessness Issues at Airports by News Media Mining

Das¹,

Aman

Rahman

2022

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation R

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The number of homeless people at airports has increased in recent years. As airports are safe, transit-accessible, convenient, and climate-controlled facilities with food and amenities, these places are attractive to homeless people who need a safe and secure place to stay. The main struggle of airports in this regard is maintaining a balance between customers, who are mostly the traveling public, and dealing with homeless people delicately. Moreover, because of their poverty and insufficient or no access to healthcare, these people suffer from physical and mental issues. With the COVID-19 pandemic, this problem became more critical. Many news media outlets started to report on homelessness at airports. News-framing impacts have some contribution in the context of this issue. However, the impact of news coverage on “airport and homelessness” has not yet been studied. News-framing effects have been identified in the context of tourist destinations. Although many studies have explored homelessness and transit, this issue at airports has not been well studied. This study provides a brief overview of the issue of homelessness in the transportation domain, including transit and aviation. Additionally, this study collected news articles related to “airport and homelessness” (71 articles) both during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 1, 2020–July 21, 2021) and before the pandemic (before March 1, 2020). These news articles contain around 50,000 words. As the data is unsupervised in nature, a text network analysis was performed to determine the latent information from these textual contents. The findings of this study can shed some light on this scientifically unexplored but widely discussed issue.

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Unhoused on the Move: Impact of COVID-19 on Homelessness in Transit Environments

Cited by 5 publications

References 8 publications

“It Is Our Problem!”: Strategies for Responding to Homelessness on Transit

“It Is Our Problem!”: Strategies for Responding to Homelessness on Transit

Community perspectives on how decentralising an emergency shelter influences transportation needs and use for persons experiencing homelessness

Content Analysis on Homelessness Issues at Airports by News Media Mining

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