Gender and Transport

Abstract

What are the strategies which men and women in poor communities utilize to meet their daily mobility needs? This is a key question which captures the emerging policy discussion on transport deprivation in developing countries. As transport deprivation means how people in poor communities, mostly women, experience greatest access problems. The article revisits a neglected dimension of urban poor housing discourse. More often than not, communities are seen as homogenous without recognizing that women and men, from diverse backgrounds, in poor communities have widely varying mobility and accessibility needs. This article initially begins a discussion on the transport experiences, the gendered differences of mobility and travel patterns of the men and women in poor communities, their transport conditions, and the related conditions experienced by poor men and women in three marketplaces. Methods for primary data gathering include (1) a random sample survey of 120 men and women from 3 major marketplaces of the three districts of the city (2) focus group discussions with representatives from four sectors (i.e., transportation leaders, public sector, private sector and NGOs, feminist leaders) and (3) key informant interviews of local and national officials. Secondary data such as official documents of the city were also utilized. While the costs of journey to work vary in the three districts, the time spent traveling for the short distance to work raises time poverty concerns. The article shows that men and women are predominantly pedestrians in a city whose official transport policy and practice is very biased towards high cost projects praised for technological efficiency and management.