Bridging the Gender Data Gap in Transport

Bridging the Gender Data Gap in Transport

Bridging the Gender Data Gap in Transport

Why does it matter

Women and girls experience mobility and moving in public space, differently from men and boys. For decades transport planning has limited itself to designing transport systems that organise networks with a more quantitative view to data collection. This fails to take into account the qualitative experiences that influence individual mobility choices. A greater understanding of women’s travel patterns and preferences creates a more inclusive picture of how everyone travels, including children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. When a diverse approach is employed that also considers the inclusion of underrepresented groups, particularly people of colour, then the resulting analysis has a greater reflection of the needs, wants, and behaviours of everyone. Gender data helps to address historically overlooked behaviours to enable more inclusive mobility.

Read more in this article by WMW Ambassador Melissa Bruntlett: Why Gender Data Matters

What can be done

Discover our six principles for bridging the gender data gap in transport!

Along with testing innovative methods for gender-responsive data collection in practice, we have compiled our knowledge of best practice in this visually appealing poster. You can download it below and spread the word.

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Individual 6 Principles
All 6 Principles in one
Individual 6 Principles
All 6 Principles in one

Key Findings

Women are not a single homogeneous group.

Their needs and pain points differ greatly depending on their age, occupation, household structure, and income levels.

The level of income influences the mode of transportation a woman chooses.

Wealthier women are more likely to use ride-hailing services, while lower-income women use informal public transport due to being ‘trapped’ by high costs of alternative public transportation.

Age impacts the types of incidents experienced.

Younger women are more likely to speak out about experiences of verbal and sexual harassment.

Affordability and standardised fares are of high priority for women.

While safety is a predominant concern for most participants, concerns about affordability or non-standard/regulated fares can sometimes take precedence.

One Solution will not address all challenges.

Although experiencing similar pain points (i.e. cost, safety), different geographic locations require context-driven solutions.
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A glimpse into the study findings

Trip Purpose

Reasons to complain about safety on the longest trip

Explore the Study Results

Innovative Methods

Mixed method qualitative and quantitative approaches that are responsive to women’s regular activities, behaviours, and comfort.

Respondent Profiles

Providing a more representative look at the varied ways women travel based on age, income, daily activities, etc.

Different Cities

Gaining a greater understanding of experiences by comparing and contrasting the responses from different geographic locations.

Want to dive deeper? Download the Datasets

Dataset Download Page

Read our Blog Series and learn more about this project