In urbanpublic transport, provision is made forstanding passengers, often calledstraphangers^[1][2][3][4] orstandees,^[5] to rationalize operation and to provide extra capacity duringrush hour.

On crowdedrapid transit urban lines, while most travelers may be seated during off-peak services, only a limited proportion will be seated during the peak services. The longer the journey, the less willing passengers are to stand. Onintercity rail orcoach services, the willingness among passengers to stand is often low. It may even be prohibited there or in intercity buses,school buses,gondola lifts, oramusement park railways, withreserved seating to ensure that all passengers can be seated.

Inaviation, safety measures require all passengers and crew to be seated with theirseat belts fastened during taxiing, take-off, landing, and turbulence, soairlines do not allow passengers to travel without a seat. However, in 2010,Ryanair, alow-cost airline proposed a "vertical seat" design for use by standing passengers on its aircraft.^[6]

The seated-to-standing ratio is theratio between the number ofpassengers that can beseated and the number ofstanding passengers on apublic transportvehicle. A higher standing ratio allows for more passengers in a given area, but detracts the perceived quality of the transport, in particular over long distances.^[7] This metric is normally limited to urban mass transit, due to intercity transport normally only offering seated travel. On longer haul services,bilevel cars are often used to allow for increased seating, though this increases thedwell time at stations, making increased seating ratio versus service timetradeoffs.

Passengers persquare metre is a quality of service metric used to determine the standard of comfort provided to standing passengers in a transportation vehicle. Multiplying this number by the total available standing area on a vehicle gives the total standing passenger capacity. Bus services in Europe operate at about four passengers per square metre.^[8]

Standing passengers are susceptible to sufferingfalls and other injuries, particularly elderly people.^[9] Shorter people and children may not be able to reach ceiling-mounted handles, straps, or rails. Porous cloth straps are hard to clean, and are being replaced by rubber or plastic straps, and metal fixtures often made ofstainless steel.^{[citation needed]}

Wikimedia Commons has media related toHandhold.

Various types of handholds are provided for standing passengers:

• hanging strap – a strap suspended from the ceiling (often with a handle or a loop)
• grab handle – a pivoted, rigidly-mounted, or suspended handle often mounted above eye level of standing passengers
• handrails – rigid rails running horizontally below the ceiling
• stanchions – vertical poles anchored between the floor and ceiling
• grab rails or grab bars – smaller hand rails attached to seats, doors, and doorways

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  An old-fashioned London Underground train with hanging straps without looped handles
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  Handrails on a modernLondon UndergroundS Stock train
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  Straps inside aLondon Underground train
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  OlderNYCTAR30 train carriage has two rows of pivoted grab handles
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  R179 car has numerous handholds and looped stanchions for high capacity services inNew York City
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  Bus grab handles inBengaluru, [[India]
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  Grab handles on a commuter bus.
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  TheSupertram inSheffield,England with moveable straps
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  Railcar inBuenos Aires with suspended rings
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  Handholds onboard aViennaU3 train
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  Moveable straps on a Vienna tram
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  Strap-hung handles onboard aSeoul Metropolitan Subway railcar
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  Suspended rings inIndonesia
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  High-floor coach inSouth Korea, unusually fitted with grab handles and poles

• Public transport

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