Jacob Wasserman, researcher at the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, spoke to Streetsblog USA about how state departments of transportation (DOTs) can help unhoused people. Researchers from the institute created a meta-analysis of how transportation officials respond to encampments on government property. “DOTs do tend to frame [this issue] as a safety problem, and they’re not wrong; these are often dangerous environments, particularly for unhoused people themselves,” Wasserman said. “But there are benefits, too. [Highway overpasses] are often sheltered environments where people can congregate, find community, have eyes on the street.” The report stressed the importance of baseline training for front-line transportation workers on how to interact with unhoused people in humane ways. Wasserman added, “When it comes to making repeat visits to encampments, building trust with unhoused people, giving [them] proof that your interventions are actually going to put them on a path to stability — that work is probably best done by service providers.”