Getting around after dark is not safe

“I was walking home at 2am after a shift at work, and had my earphones in. I didn’t realise a man had got up close behind me and was trying to talk to me. When I realised and ignored him, he tried to smack my phone out of my hand. I had to run away and get into my door to get away from him.”

- Danielle, age 22

Whether walking, getting a taxi or public transport, harassment and assault has reached epidemic levels, as reflected in the recent national emergency declared on violence against women and girls.

This affects every single one of us in some way - pretty much every woman we know and many men have had a bad experience and far too many people’s lives have beens severely affected by this. We’ve had enough!

Women are living in fear

Our research showed that a staggering 10% of women don’t go out at all after 9pm due to safety concerns and/or previous traumatic experiences. That’s not ok. 

On top of that, we found that incredibly high percentages of people have avoided evening activities (see charts below) at times due to safety concerns, and similar percentages have been put off using public transport due to previous negative experiences. Interestingly, the main difference is for males - showing their perception of fear is lower than their negative experiences.

Shocking numbers of assault by taxi drivers

Taxis seem like an obvious solution, but we found that 59% of men and women feel unsafe travelling by taxi and although most taxi drivers are great, our Freedom of Information requests revealed troubling numbers of alleged rapes and sexual assaults, as well as similar numbers of physical assaults. 

In addition, private hire costs are prohibitive for commuters or people on lower incomes.

“Coming home from a night out, for example, it's impossible sometimes to get an Uber, or it might be that the prices shoot up, even then you could be waiting like 20, 30 minutes for an Uber." 

- Fleet Interviewee May 2024

The far-reaching impact of restricted freedom

Women’s lives in particular are being severely limited by the very tangible threat of assault, and this affects everyone.

No one wants themselves or loved ones to fall victim to bad experiences at night, or worse, not make it home, but you, your children, partners, friends and colleagues should not have to be essentially imprisoned at home because society can’t keep them safe. 

The impact is far-reaching: diminishing mental health, physical effects of constant stress, lost career progression (missing out on networking and training) and job opportunities, missing out on important events and social connections and more broadly, the effect on business and the economy. That’s why we’ve designed the first shared transport service where safety underpins the whole journey.

Fleet’s Innovate UK Final Report

We are so grateful to the hundreds of people who took part in our research, especially as some of the topics we are dealing with here are not always easy to share.

For a more in-depth understanding of our research, please see Fleet’s Innovate UK final report.