www.TransformingTransportation.org

Understanding and Measuring Women’s

Implicit Safety in Public Transportation

Joanna Moody, Graduate Research Assistant, MIT

Presented at Transforming Transportation 2016

Understanding and Measuring

Women’s Implicit Safety in Public

Transportation

Joanna Moody

Graduate Research Assistant

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Transforming Transportation

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Explicit,

tangible,

identifiable

Implicit, intangible, instinctual,

subconscious

Safety =

Freedom from Danger (Explicit) +

Freedom from Discomfort (Implicit)

Travel Behavior &

Quality of Life

City/Transportation PlannersImproved Safety for

Women on Public Transit

need feedback about

explicit & implicit

causes of discomfort/fear

Explicit Statistics/Surveys

Implicit ?

Implicit IAT

IAT

Public

Transit

Private

Transport

Images or Words

Implicit Association Test

Concept:

Images or Words

Attribute:

Safe Unsafe

Public Transit

+

Unsafe

Private Transport

+

Safe

Congruous Pairing

Natural Association

Faster Response

Public Transit

+

Safe

Private Transport

+

Unsafe

Incongruous Pairing

Slower Response

IAT D-Score:

LIncongruent -LCongruent

stotal=LPT+Safe - LPT+Unsafe

stotal

Provide a benchmark for

evaluating impacts of new

policies and service measures

on implicit aspects of safety

Fast

Fun

User-Friendly

Versatile

Flexible

Rail

+

Safe

Bus

+

Unsafe

Public Transit

+

Unsafe

Private Transport

+

Safe

Shared

Strangers

Unfamiliar

Personal

Individual

IAT & Smart Cities!

Explicit Implicit

Safety = Freedom from

Danger

Freedom from

Discomfort

Understanding = Surveys/Statisti

cs

IAT

+

+

Better understanding of all

dimensions of safety can help

target limited resources toward the

most impactful improvements