The Ralph and Goldy Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies

This client project, prepared for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), investigates wayfinding, lighting, and public realm strategies to improve safety and accessibility at bus and rail stations throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The project is built around LADOT’s Integrated Mobility Hubs (IMH) project and leverages concurrent planning efforts for the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games to advance long-term transportation equity goals. This project centers nighttime transit users, including third-shift travelers, low-income and transit-dependent riders, and women, who disproportionately experience unsafe transit environments.The project relied on a mixed-methods research design consisting of surveys, observation mapping, and case studies with informational interviews to inform policy and design recommendations for IMH sites, including the Pico Station of the Los Angeles Metro rail and bus network. Findings show that riders view cleanliness, lighting, and visible staff presence as key contributors to safe and pleasant transit environments. Although the topic of wayfinding improvements did not strongly resonate with survey respondents, users strongly preferred simple tools such as signage and maps over digital ones such as QR codes.Interviews also highlighted the need for clear station-area planning frameworks as they are key in delivering the safety and accessibility interventions identified by transit riders. Ultimately, mobility hubs should be intentionally planned as safe, well-maintained, and active station environments that are supported by amenities such as lighting, wayfinding mechanisms, public art, and other station-area improvements that serve everyday transit riders, including those who rely on transit in the late night and early morning.