Safe, Sustainable Transit Environments: Rider Experiences and Policy Pathways

CALL FOR PAPERS

Safe, Sustainable Transit Environments: Rider Experiences and Policy Pathways

Journal: Journal of Public Transportation

Publisher: Elsevier

Submission Deadline: 31 October 2026

Introduction

Public transportation systems are central to sustainable and inclusive cities — connecting people to opportunities, reducing environmental impacts, and shaping public space. Yet safety concerns — crime, incivility, and perceived insecurity — remain major barriers to transit use.

This Special Issue invites interdisciplinary research on safety across the transit journey and across modes — including buses, trains, and ferries — with special attention to specific transit environments and contexts. Contributions addressing diverse users — including women, LGBTQIA+ people, older adults, and people with disabilities or allergies — are especially welcome.

Scope & Significance

Transit safety is a multidimensional challenge — encompassing objective crime and victimization, subjective perceptions of safety, environmental design, governance, and policy. Understanding how different users experience safety across the full transit journey — from planning to arrival — is essential for designing inclusive, accessible, and sustainable public transport systems.

This Special Issue seeks to advance interdisciplinary scholarship that bridges criminology, transport planning, urban studies, public policy, and social science — generating evidence-based insights for transit operators, planners, and policymakers seeking to improve safety and promote inclusive transit use.

Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies are all encouraged.

List of Topic Areas

Manuscripts are invited on themes including, but not limited to:

1. Victimization and perceived safety on public transit — across modes and environments

2. Transit environments and their influence on safety — stations, stops, vehicles, and surrounding areas

3. Spatial and temporal patterns of crime and incivility on transit systems

4. Safety interventions — design, technology, policing, and community-based approaches

5. Governance and policy frameworks for safer transit environments

6. The whole transit journey approach — safety from trip planning to arrival

7. Women's safety on public transit — experiences, barriers, and solutions

8. LGBTQIA+ experiences of safety and inclusion in transit environments

9. Older adults and accessibility — safety perceptions and mobility

10. People with disabilities and allergies — inclusive transit design and safety

11. Links between transit safety, accessibility, and sustainability

12. Technology and safety — surveillance, real-time information, and mobile apps

13. Incivility, anti-social behavior, and social norms on public transport

14. Cross-modal comparisons — safety across buses, trains, ferries, and active modes

15. Comparative and international perspectives on transit safety policy

Guest Editors

Assoc. Prof. Candace Brakewood Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA

Prof. Vania Ceccato KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

Key Deadlines

Manuscript Submission Opens: 1 May 2026 Manuscript Submission Deadline: 31 October 2026

Note: Authors with questions about the fit of a potential submission are encouraged to email an abstract to the guest editors for feedback — preferably by August 2026.

Submission Guidelines

Submit your manuscript via the Journal of Public Transportation online submission system:

https://submit.elsevier.com/JPUBTR

When submitting, select Article Type:

"VSI: Transit Safety"

to ensure the submission is correctly grouped under this Special Issue for the review process.

All submissions must be original and must not be under review elsewhere at the time of submission. All articles will be reviewed by no fewer than two independent experts.

Why Publish in This Special Issue?

• Special Issue articles are downloaded twice as often within the first 24 months compared to regular issue articles

• Special Issue articles attract 20% more citations in the first 24 months

• Articles are published together on ScienceDirect — easy for researchers to discover your work

• All articles reviewed by no fewer than two independent experts

About the Journal

The Journal of Public Transportation, published by Elsevier, is a fully open access peer-reviewed journal with a CiteScore of 3.2 and Impact Factor of 3.7. It is dedicated to advancing research on public transportation systems — providing an international platform for interdisciplinary scholarship exploring transit planning, operations, policy, user behavior, and the role of public transport in sustainable and equitable urban development worldwide.

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