Asian Women’s Experience of Fear of Crime on Public Transportation in Metro Vancouver

Abstract

There is an absence in the current literature of studies examining fear of crime on public transportation in Canada. More specifically, there are few studies that have examined fear of crime on public transportation governed by TransLink in Metro-Vancouver. This study involved 12 semi-structured, in-depth interviews to explore how ethnic minority women experience fear of crime on public transportation in Metro-Vancouver. The data were analyzed and coded inductively with three key themes emerging from the data. First, the majority of the participants indicated that they overall felt safe on public transportation. Second, participants explained various factors that increase their feelings of safety on public transportation, including travelling with others and along familiar routes and using transit locations with strong visibility and lighting. Participants noted specific factors that decrease their feelings of safety, including travelling at night and in certain neighbourhoods and having a history of negative experiences while using transit.