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Munich Youth Study on Night Transit Safety Prompts City Review of SafeNow App

Officials are weighing a SafeNow pilot alongside information campaigns after the youth study’s reports of night-time insecurity.

Overview

  • A representative KJR survey of 1,200 people aged 14 to 27 found that about one in four young women feel unsafe on night-time public transport and 28% reported sexual harassment, with 75% avoiding night rides.
  • The Green/Rosa Liste/Volt city-council group formally asked the mayor on October 21 to examine deploying the SafeNow emergency app across stations and vehicles in coordination with MVG, Deutsche Bahn and the Munich police.
  • MVG called the tool interesting and said it will review a deployment, noting existing measures such as cameras, station intercoms and joint patrols with police.
  • Deutsche Bahn emphasized that security requires coordinated multi-agency action and cautioned against relying on a single app.
  • SafeNow cites pilots at Oktoberfest, Berlin Südkreuz and in Hamburg that reported higher perceived safety and rapid security responses, while the KJR pressed for low-cost information campaigns as police logged 14,925 public-transport offenses in 2024.