Nick Grimm reported this story on Wednesday, June 3, 2015 12:56:00

ELEANOR HALL: Now to our story about the uncomfortable public transport issue that has become illegal in New York.



Bus and subway officials there have begun arresting passengers for the offence known as "manspreading".



Nick Grimm investigates how are Australian commuters are dealing with the problem.



NICK GRIMM: Commuters who tend to be a little expansive can't say they weren't warned.



CBS NEWSREADER: If you take the subway, bus or train, you've seen it: guys taking up more than just their seat.



NICK GRIMM: Earlier this year, New York's metropolitan transportation authority began placing posters on public transport asking men to be a little more considerate of others.



They read, "Dude, stop the spread".



At the time, CBS New York launched its own investigation.



CBS NEWSREADER: So what is manspreading?



KELLEY RAE O'DONNELL: Spreading their legs in a wide 'V', like geese travelling.



NICK GRIMM: New York resident Kelley Rae O'Donnell is a self-styled anti-manspreading activist who campaigned for action against manspreaders after spending the past three years furtively photographing men in the act, and posting the images on Twitter.



KELLEY RAE O'DONNELL: I just started taking pictures, mostly because they wouldn't move for people or allow other people to sit down.



MANSPREADING MAN: Hey stupid internet, I was not manspreading, I was just enjoying a pleasant ride on the number two train.



NICK GRIMM: And manspreading reached new heights of notoriety when America's own everyman, the actor Tom Hanks, was himself snapped on the subway.



Much to his eternal chagrin, he was duly dubbed the 'face of manspreading', as he was recently forced to confess to a talk show audience, insisting he's copped a bum rap.



TOM HANKS: The train was half empty, there was... it was scattered, you know. Yeah, there was plenty of room! So I was sitting there and yeah I crossed my legs.



NICK GRIMM: But manspreader know thyself is the message being promulgated by those concerned about the distance between the knees of male travellers.



Kevin Ortiz is from New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority speaking earlier this year.



KEVIN ORTIZ: All it takes is, you know, a guy just to kind of squeeze in a little bit more and let that other person sit down. It's something that we want to see happen.



NICK GRIMM: But it seems public shaming can only do so much, and after six months of asking nicely, New York's transit authorities have decided it's time to put the squeeze on the manspreaders, moving in on two offenders and arresting them for taking up too much room.



In New York, commuters are legally entitled to occupied 17.5 inches of space - that's less than 45 centimetres. And here in Australia, the news could cause some public transport users to, well, shift a little uncomfortably in their seats.



SYDNEY COMMUTER 1: Yes, I find it a bit of a struggle when you get the bigger person next door to you, sitting next to you squashed in. Horrible.



NICK GRIMM: The World Today took to streets of Sydney - a city with one of the nation's most crowded public transport systems - to find out what how much tolerance there is for the offence.



And perhaps a little appropriately discovered the range of opinion on manspreading covers a wide spectrum.



SYDNEY COMMUTER 2: I once sat next to a guy who was spreading over into my seat, but I just poked it back in his direction and asked him if he could hold it.



NICK GRIMM: And did that sort the problem out?



SYDNEY COMMUTER 2: I think he got the message and looked a bit upset about his stomach spreading onto my leg. Yeah, it's a big problem, I find. I think it's a real, really big problem. Something needs to be done about it.



NICK GRIMM: Have you encountered problems like that on Sydney public transport?



SYDNEY COMMUTER 3: I’ve seen it. Seen it.



NICK GRIMM: What exactly have you seen? Can you describe it for me?



SYDNEY COMMUTER 3: Oh just tall, lanky men, not being able to have enough leg room on the train area and the seating area.



SYDNEY COMMUTER 4: It's when they spread their legs far too wide, really, and they encroach on your personal space. It's... you know, it's just common etiquette really to just sort of, you know, respect other people's personal space.



SYDNEY COMMUTER 5: I've actually been really surprised. I'm from Newcastle, so yeah, on the trains it's always super busy and people are always making room for you, helping you.



NICK GRIMM: So you haven't really had those awkward moments when you have somebody next to you who's just basically taking up way too much space?



SYDNEY COMMUTER 5: Well, yeah, you do every now and then but I guess you just got to deal with that. That's public transport.



SYDNEY COMMUTER 6: Oh, mate. I think there's bigger issues than that sort of thing on the train.



NICK GRIMM: But be honest with me, are you every guilty of taking up too much room on public transport?



SYDNEY COMMUTER 6: Oh no, I like to think I, yeah, I respect other people's space. So yeah, no. And expect the same sort of thing.



So yeah. But I think it's more so when they have their bags or shopping or something like that on the seat rather than yeah, rather than the blokes with the legs spread sort of thing. I haven't come across that too much.



ELEANOR HALL: Commuters in Sydney there speaking to Nick Grimm.