Date of Conferral

6-12-2024

Date of Award

June 2024

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Anne Hacker

Abstract

Women use public transportation more frequently than do men. However, most of these transportation systems were not constructed with women in mind. Public transportation systems are accountable for securely transporting people to their destinations, as well as upkeeping protective policies to advocate for fearful passengers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine women’s perspectives on public transportation.The research question guiding this study asked women to discuss their safety experiences and needs related to existing public transportation policy. Cooley’s theory of transportation and Friedman’s public safety theory formed the conceptual framework for this study. Purposeful sampling was used to select 15 female healthcare workers who reside in Maryland. The participants shared their perspectives through structured interviews. Interview data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The four emergent themes were: (a) participants’ feeling regarding public safety, (b) precautions/learned behaviors, (c) expectations, and (d) initiatives. The implications for positive social change included policy recommendations for transportation companies to modify services to better meet the needs of women. The study provided women with a better understanding of how to report problems and who to report them to.

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