Sheltering on Public Transit: Scale and Resident Characteristics

• In Event: Lightning Session: Methods and Tools of Analysis & Housing, Community Development, and Urban Policy

Abstract

Public transportation (PT) is the primary mode of transit used by people experiencing homelessness (Murphy, 2019). For unhoused residents, public transit, like libraries, provides respite from the elements along with other amenities required for survival (Kelleher, 2013). In Los Angeles County (LA), the homeless population has grown by more than 50% since 2015 (LAHSA, n.d.), and represents an increasingly visible segment of the LA transit riding population. This visibility has garnered significant media attention and sparked both public ire and concerns about public safety on PT (Ramos & DuBose, 2023). However, consistent and reliable estimates of the homeless population sheltering on transit are hard to come by. In response to an increase in unhoused transit ridership, transit authorities use a mix of punitive tools (move-along orders and quality-of-life enforcement) and outreach teams (often to homelessness services connections) (Ding et al., 2022). The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has adopted an outreach-forward policy, deploying multidisciplinary outreach teams across LA to connect unhoused residents with services. At the same time, Metro has increased private security and law enforcement visibility and has declared intentions to reduce fare evasion. Implementing and evaluating these programs requires collaborative relationships with organizations outside of the transit sector (particularly law enforcement and homelessness services), but also quality data on the size and characteristics of the unsheltered population using transit as shelter.

This study aims to answer two questions in the context of LA's transit system: (1) what is the scale of sheltering on transit, and how has it changed over time? (2) what are the characteristics of unhoused transit riders? 

Using a mix of demographic data on unhoused residents from 2020 to 2025 collected to complement the annual point-in-time homeless count, I estimate the size and composition of LA's unsheltered population using transit. The nature of the data allows me to disagregate these estimates by vehicle and infrastructure use. Additionally, I examine how unsheltered residents using transit as shelter compare to other unhoused residents along sociodemograpjic, economic, homelessness-related, health, and traua-related dimensions. I find that that both the number and share of residents using transit as shelter has increased from 2020 to 2025, largely driven by increases in sheltering at stops and stations. Additionally, people using public transit as shelter are distinct from other unsheltered residents in ways that suggest higher vulnerability. 

The purpose of this study is to produce insights to improve services aimed at unhoused residents who use and sleep on public transportation.

Author

• Jordy David Coutin, University of Southern California
  Presenting Author