YouGov, an international online polling group, recently conducted a survey that asked 31,000 Americans whether transit agencies in the United States should reserve the first car of every subway for women only, as is done in Japan, India and Brazil. According to their results, “43% of Americans somewhat or strongly support having the trains and subway systems in their area reserve a car for women only. By comparison, only 30% of Americans oppose implementing this policy and 27% are unsure.”

The picture gets more interesting the deeper you dive into the data. Here are some highlights (the original article has some excellent charts illustrating the results that are worth a look):

• Women were more likely than men to be in favor (48 versus 38 percent) and less likely to be against (22 versus 37 percent).
• The frequency of passengers influences the level of support: Of those in favor of women-only buses, 60 percent of those who ride daily were in favor, as were 55 percent of weekly passengers, 52 percent of monthly passengers, 44 percent of those who ride a few times a year, and 37 percent of people who never use public transportation.
• Opposition to women-only cars is strongest among Americans who say they never use public transportation.
• Younger drivers are more in favor of this regulation: 56 percent of adults under 30 years of age compared to 32 percent of adults aged 65 and over.
• People who have had negative experiences with public transport (35 percent) are more likely to support women-only carriages.

YouGov authors Macel Moran and Taylor Orth conclude: “These findings suggest that Americans are very interested in experimenting with women-only cars on trains and subways in their local transit systems. Particularly in light of nationwide ridership increases in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, such a policy could potentially encourage transit use by women who have previously had negative experiences with public transit.”