My girlfriend experiences the same thing which is why she refuses to take public transportation without me. It is a huge problem that nobody here has claimed a solution for nor really talked about (not too surprising since HN is composed of 94.6% males according to [0]). Just google search "public transportation women" or use this link [1] to read into it more. It is one of the reasons we plan to move to suburbia once we get married/start having kids.

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=591309

[1]: https://www.google.com/search?q=public+transportation+women&...

Not doubting your experience at all, but my SO feels more comfortable on public transit than on an Uber/Lyft, where she feels like she has no control over what the driver chooses to do.

She also avoids the last hour of transit.

She also tries to avoid taking Uber/Lyft but not too the extreme of public transportation.

We also got a car recently and this was one of the big reasons.

As a women who uses transit as part of her daily commute, it comes down to time of day and route. As well as being aware of your surroundings and understanding when there is a one-off situation occurring.

Skytrain - yes, you sometimes have the one off homeless guy, who jumped the compass gates, on the train who makes it awkward for all riders. 98% of the time during the normal commute it's peaceful. Last few trains of the day, you should anticipate the drunks on board. At least they are not on the road driving

Bus - when it's crammed, it's crammed and awkward for everyone. At least Translink now has a means to track rider data to understand the routes that require more frequent services to mitigate the crammed bus situation.

Considering Uber and Lyft have had blocks thrown in their way for approvals in Vancouver, we do not have the alternative means other cities do. Transit and bike lanes is slowly improving, but still has a ways to go.

Oh god the skytrain is miles better than the situation with BART & Muni in SF.