Abstract
Shelter is a basic human need. Yet more than half a million individuals experience homelessness every single night in the U.S. In the last decade, homeless counts have risen in many U.S. metropolitan areas, despite efforts and funding to address the issue. The limited capacity of shelters and other social service agencies to meet the needs of a rapidly growing homeless population has forced many individuals experiencing homelessness to look for shelter in various public spaces. Without other options, many turn to transit vehicles, bus stops, and transit stations. Many also use transit to reach destinations such as workplaces, shelters, and community service centers. With affordable housing scarce in some metropolitan areas and the scale of the homelessness crisis often surpassing the capacities of existing safety nets, transit operators face the crisis in their work. They must implement policy measures from realms beyond transportation to address them.
The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated these problems. Fear of infection in homeless shelters and reduced capacity due to physical distancing requirements are driving more unhoused people to take shelter on the streets as well as in transit settings.
To explore these issues, the researchers surveyed 142 staff at 115 U.S. and Canadian transit agencies inquiring about the extent of homelessness on their systems and the actions they employ in response.
