Section 99178 - Street harassment survey(a) For purposes of this section, the terms "street harassment," "survey data," and "transit operator" have the same meanings as defined in Section 99177.(b)(1) On or before December 31, 2024, a transit operator shall collect and publish survey data, in accordance with this section, to the extent feasible with the funding it receives to implement this section from the Department of Transportation pursuant to paragraph (2), for the purpose of informing their efforts to improve the safety of riders and reduce street harassment on public transit.(2) On or before July 1, 2024, the Department of Transportation shall enter into a funding agreement with a transit operator to collect and publish the survey data described in paragraph (1).(c) A transit operator shall collect, at a minimum, the information described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 99177.(d) A transit operator may, but is not required to, use the survey made available pursuant to Section 99177 and may ask additional questions beyond those in the survey.(e) A transit operator shall conduct outreach activities with subpopulations of riders who are underrepresented in surveys and impacted by street harassment to gain insight into the perspectives of these riders based on their experiences. Activities may include focus groups, participatory workshops, or other methods of engaging riders. Subpopulations may include, but are not limited to, women riders, non-English-speaking riders, LGBTQ+ riders, and riders with disabilities.(f) A transit operator may collect survey data in multiple languages to reach limited-English-proficient riders impacted by street harassment. The languages may be determined by existing data on riders or the top non-English languages used by limited-English-proficient persons in the community served by the transit operator according to the most recent American Community Survey by the United States Census Bureau.(g)(1) A transit operator shall publish and make publicly available on its internet website all survey data collected pursuant to this section, including the information described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 99177, as required by subdivision (c).(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a transit operator shall not publish any personally identifiable information.(3) A transit operator shall promptly notify the Governor and the Legislature of the publication of the survey data. (h) Notwithstanding anything in this section to the contrary, any information described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 99177 collected by a transit operator in the five years before the effective date of this section shall be deemed to be survey data collected by the transit operator pursuant to this section, and any outreach activities conducted by a transit operator to collect that information in the five years before the effective date of this section shall be deemed to have been conducted by the transit operator pursuant to this section.(i) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create new or additional liability for a transit operator for failing to respond to an incident of street harassment.Ca. Pub. Util. Code § 99178
Added by Stats 2023 ch 396 (SB 434),s 2, eff. 1/1/2024.