Transportation

Citation:

Song, Lily, Mariel Kirschen and John Taylor. 2019. “Women on Wheels: Gender and  Cycling in Solo, Indonesia.” Journal of Tropical Geography 40 (1): 140-157.

Authors: Lily Song, Mariel Kirschen, John Taylor

Abstract:

This paper explores the question of how to promote cycling among women who face disproportionate mobility and accessibility barriers in rapidly urbanizing contexts by analyzing empirical findings from a multi‐method research study based in Solo, Indonesia. Building on and applying a combination of critical gender, geography, and development perspectives, it focuses on the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of women residing in low‐income neighbourhoods with little access to public transportation networks in Solo as an ‘indicator species for bike‐friendly cities’. Based on research and analytic findings, the paper further contemplates alternative policy and planning approaches to promoting cycling in more gender‐inclusive and responsive terms.

Topics: Gender, Women, Infrastructure, Transportation Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Indonesia

Year: 2019

Citation:

Mejia-Dorantes, Lucia. 2018. "An Example of Working Women in Mexico City: How Can Their Vision Reshape Transport Policy?" Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice: 116: 97-111.

Author: Lucia Mejia-Dorantes

Abstract:

This paper focuses on mobility and accessibility in Mexico City especially for low-medium income working women using a qualitative approach. Through in-depth interviews, we discuss different mobility and transport issues to understand what the main factors that influence their travel patterns are, how the different services are perceived and evaluated, and what their daily constraints are. Our final aim is to understand what is still missing and to discuss the following steps regarding transport policy in Mexico City and its Metropolitan area through a gender perspective. Interestingly, even if there are important gender issues raised by participants, they have assumed these issues as being part of their daily life, modifying their transport patterns accordingly. They also perceive that there are many problems, which concern the transport system in general, others related to the complexity of the metropolis and the lack of civic-mindedness. The results also show a huge gap between women’s needs, depending on their income and place of residence. (Abstract from ScienceDirect)

Keywords: transport disadvantage, social and gender inequalities, transport and landuse policy, qualitative methods, developing countries, Megacities

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Topics: Gender, Women, Infrastructure, Transportation Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Mexico

Year: 2018

Citation:

Singh, Yamini, J. 2019. “Is Smart Mobility Also Gender-Smart?" Journal of Gender Studies: doi: 10.1080/09589236.2019.1650728

Author: Yamini J. Singh

Abstract:

In the world of shared economy, the mobility sector is one of the fastest-growing segments and includes app-based services to use shared cars, bikes, parking, shuttles and more. Its sudden growth is due to the popularity of smart-phones and companies that provide mobility on demand. Reportedly, it has changed the way people move. But how well do we know its impact on gender equality in mobility? This paper discusses the results of an exploratory review of the existing research on shared mobility that reveals that most of the research is focused towards assessing its impacts on transit ridership, congestion, environmental factors, car-ownership and modal shift. Very little attention is paid on how it impacts access, safety, ease or comfort of mobility for females, whose travelling needs are strikingly different than those of men. There are views, speculations and even expert opinions on the potential impacts; however, currently available information clearly shows that these services are used mainly by men implying that they are only widening the gender gap in our cities. Detailed empirical studies in developing and developed countries can establish the reasons for this gendered pattern, so that they can be resolved to create gender parity in urban mobility.

Keywords: Gendered mobility, smart mobility, car-sharing, bike-sharing, ride-hailing

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Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Infrastructure, Transportation

Year: 2018

Citation:

Porter, Gina. 2012. “Reflections on a Century of Road Transport Developments in West Africa and Their (Gendered) Impacts on the Rural Poor.” EchoGéo, no. 20 (July). doi: 10.4000/echogeo.13116.

Author: Gina Porter

Abstract:

This paper explores broad trends in road construction and associated transport services development in two West African countries, Ghana and Nigeria, over the last hundred years and considers their impact on the rural poor, with particular reference to rural women. It draws on diverse evidence, including twentieth century colonial archives, personal ethnographic field research undertaken over a 35- year period, associated quantitative surveys, and relevant secondary literature. Following an outline of each major phase in transport development, an assessment is made of its impacts on the rural poor, with particular reference to women. The study concludes with a review of recent donor policy shifts and the prospects for positive change.

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Topics: Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Gender, Women, Infrastructure, Transportation Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Ghana, Nigeria

Year: 2012

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Turdalieva, Cholpon, and Christopher Edling. 2018. “Women’s Mobility and ‘Transport-Related Social Exclusion’ in Bishkek.” Mobilities 13 (4): 535–50.

Authors: Cholpon Turdalieva, Christopher Edling

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This paper analyses gendered mobilities in Bishkek in the space of the most popular form of public transport: the minibus, or ‘marshrutka’. As the means by which women often access various important sites of daily life, the marshrutka itself is a site of negotiation and interaction. Utilizing theories of mobility and empirical data, we argue that marshrutkas are spaces that can give rise to two dichotomous conditions: positive marshrutka experiences may increase the social mobility of female passengers and subsequently increase social empowerment and influence, while negative ones can provide the grounds for social exclusion and gender inequality.

Keywords: mobility, gender, transport, social mobility, social exclusion

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Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Infrastructure, Transportation Regions: Asia, Central Asia Countries: Kyrgyzstan

Year: 2018

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Richard, Shaibu Hasssan, and Emmanuel Okokondem Okon. 2018. “Gender Issue in Transportation Sector of Nigeria: A Case Study of Lokoja, Kogi State.” American International Journal of Social Science Research 2 (1): 52–61.

Authors: Shaibu Hasssan Richard, Emmanuel Okokondem Okon

Abstract:

This paper aimed at finding out what constraint women in transport sector in Lokoja and why employers are reluctant in employing women in the sector? The null hypothesis is that women constraints have no significant effect in transportation sector in Lokoja. Information for the paper was basically from the questionnaire survey method Data generated were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, simple percentages and graphical illustrations. Chi-square analysis was used to test the formulated hypothesis. The result reveals that women constraints have significant effect in transportation sector in Lokoja. Transport business in Lokoja is so dominated by male counterpart and yet some routes are not adequately covered. Based on the aforementioned findings, it is recommended that social attitude in Lokoja, Kogi state and Nigeria in general should be changed in favour of women employment in transport sector. The government of Kogi state should establish driving schools and transport scheme meant to enhance the livelihood of women. The National Union of Road Transport Worker (NURTW) should encourage women to invest in the sector.

Keywords: gender bias, transport sector, Lokoja, Nigeria

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Topics: Economies, Gender, Women, Infrastructure, Transportation, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 2018

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Panjwani, Neha. 2018. “Mainstreaming Gender in Karāchī’s Public Transport Policy.” European Journal of Sustainable Development 7 (1): 355-64.

Author: Neha Panjwani

Abstract:

Conversations around gender inequality often focus on access to health, education, and workplace rights, but scarcely concern the transportation sector. The latter is highly gender discriminatory, especially in developing countries such as Pakistan, affecting the mobility of women and third genders, who face inequities in the provision and accessibility of this public service. Such constraints to safe, efficient, and comfortable mobility create serious problems for certain genders reflecting their economic security: this by extension is both a cause and an effect of social inequality, and the failure of federal budget allocation towards transportation leading to profound gender disparities in cities. It not only affects mobility but also, consequently, shapes the way in which space is occupied by women in public spheres. In the light of these challenges, this policy paper seeks to highlight the specific mobility challenges faced by women and transgender population, in the metropolis of Karāchī, who commute via public transport that includes buses, taxis and rickshaws. It highlights existing shortcomings in, and recommends an urgent focus on a more inclusive, need-based public transportation system. By drawing on the principles of gender mainstreaming interventions in public transportation in other countries, and data from first-hand interviews with local conductors, bus drivers and passengers – this policy makes some pragmatic recommendations, paying special attention to issues of inclusion, accessibility, safety and mobility. The implications of this study are to enhance evidence-based policy-making in transportation with particular focus on urban planning and gender – sensitive city development.

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Topics: Gender, Women, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Infrastructure, Transportation, Urban Planning, LGBTQ, Security Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Pakistan

Year: 2018

Citation:

Campbell, Morgan Frances. 2018. “Navigating Gender Using Transportation: Theme and Variations in Urban India.” PhD Diss., New Jersey: School of Graduate Studies, Rutgers University.

Author: Morgan Frances Campbell

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Starting with the knowledge of overt patriarchal structures and gender norms that affect when, where, and why women in urban India travel in public, this dissertation is an inquiry into how different groups of working women literally navigate gender and class positions while using various transportation modes. The geographies of Bengaluru and Delhi were chosen for the significant physical and social transformations that reflect realities of globalization, conflicting political ideologies, internal migration, and rapid urbanization. These changes are embedded within slick metro systems, the millions of new car owners, company provided transportation for employees of multinationals, and failing public bus systems. They are transcribed onto the bodies of urban women in which a tension between mobility in a literal sense and immobility with respect to gender norms and socio-economic hierarchies constantly plays out. The project investigates the daily mobility practices of four populations of working women: women in Bengaluru’s IT sector, young, unmarried women staying in Delhi’s working women’s hostels, women working in Delhi’s retail sector, and women bus conductors in Bengaluru. A mixed methods approach of surveying, interviewing, and participant observation is utilized in order to understand what modes these women use for commuting in the city and why these modes are chosen. The primary aim is to locate the influence gender and class has on these commuting decisions. Rooted in Right to the City activism, social exclusion research, and feminist epistemologies, this project is motivated by the reality that transportation decisions for women are inherently gendered, especially in respect to concern for personal security. At the same time, transportation mobility cannot be reduced to gender alone. Urban women do not constitute a cohesive user category and policies that improve the mobility of one group can exacerbate socio-economic inequalities of others. To illustrate this, a comparative analysis is used. However, by focusing on qualitative evidence, the project locates individual agency within these women, the various ways in which women navigate through and around physical and social structures that restrict women’s mobility. To conclude, this dissertation argues that the act of commuting in the city is one salient and important way in which a renegotiation of gender norms and class positions can be achieved.

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Topics: Class, Gender, Gender Roles, Women, Infrastructure, Information & Communication Technologies, Transportation Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2018

Citation:

Bagheri, Nazgol. 2019. “Tehran’s Subway: Gender, Mobility, and the Adaptation of the ‘Proper’ Muslim Woman.” Social & Cultural Geography 20 (3): 304–22.

Author: Nazgol Bagheri

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Tehran’s subway, the most affordable means of public transportation in the city, offers a useful context to study the relationship between women’s spatial mobility, the construction of self, and social production of space. This study focuses on Line 1 of Tehran’s subway that connects Tehran’s Bala Shahr (Northern Tehran) and Paeen Shahr (Southern Tehran) neighborhoods. This study draws upon 46 semi-structured interviews with women who were using subway Line 1 in the fall and winter of 2012. The average hour-long interviews examine how women’s emotional states as well as their perceptions of self and space vary as they traverse the city on Line 1. Representing a cultural as well as a spatial transect through the city, the perceptions of women on subway’s Line 1 convey the repudiation of the state’s attempt to promote a singular Muslim female identity. The findings suggest that similar to women’s perception of space, their gendered identities are constantly changing through the enhanced mobility that is facilitated by Tehran’s subway system. In contrast to what is presumed in the West, with a simple change in their hijab style or make-up, Iranian women innovatively negotiate contrasting spaces.

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Topics: Gender, Women, Infrastructure, Transportation Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Iran

Year: 2019

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You, Sotheary. 2019. “Women’s Unsafe Mobility in Public Transport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.” Journal of Peacebuilding & Development 14 (2): 222–27.

Author: Sotheary You

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“This briefing focuses on the unsafe mobility of women when they are in transit, with a specific focus on public transportation. Since the Phnom Penh Municipality considers revamping the public transportation system, there is an opportunity for the municipality to craft a gender-responsive public transportation policy” (You 2019, 222).

Topics: Women, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Infrastructure, Transportation, Sexual Violence, SV against Women Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Cambodia

Year: 2019