Chapter 12 -- Areas where vulnerable public transit commuters reside: a method for targeting crime prevention and other resources to address local area problems

Abstract

Hart and Miethe (Chapter 11 in this volume) focused on where street robberies occur, taking proximate environments into account. In this chapter, we shift the focus from crime events and features of places to potential victims and the areas around their residences. We identify areas in which groups previously found to be vulnerable to crime victimization or fear of crime on public transit cluster in the New York City context. Reaching these vulnerable populations can be expensive if local area planners or agencies have to do all of the research by themselves, but it is easier, and less expensive, if agencies can build on existing research. One such publicly available set of information about US residents is the American Community Survey (ACS). The main purpose of the ACS is to inform policymakers about how to distribute federal and state funding to various local and state governments for infrastructure and services (USCB, 2013). Transit operators who want to provide more secure travel for passengers most in need may use the ACS to identify where commuters reside.