Page 31 - Trafficinfratech Magazine April 2023 Digital Edition

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We have also advised on to bicycles, is it safe to cycle? Do
incorporating a gender lens in the they know how to cycle, are cycles
bus rapid transit system in Amman designed for women? Do bicycle
(Jordan) and advised the Gender sharing systems consider women’s
Working Group in Tbilisi City Hall travel destinations and entry
(Georgia) on gender-inclusive barriers? Dedicated cycle tracks,
urban planning indicators. Over safe crossings, programmes to
the last 13 months, we have led encourage women and girls in cities
a team in the process of creating to bicycle, bicycle sharing schemes
climate resilient, gender and that address gendered travel and Safe, accessible,
socially inclusive public open space entry barriers and most importantly gender responsive
guideline for secondary towns awareness and behaviour change
in Bangladesh, and conducted programmes can help. pedestrian
capacity development workshops infrastructure,
at the city and national level. Public Transport crossings and traffic

How important it is to A lot needs to be done to improve management are
have gender-responsive bus transportation for women and essential.”
create a safe, reliable, accessible and
urban planning and affordable travel journey: access
infrastructure? to and from bus stops/ terminals,

Women constitute a majority waiting, boarding and alighting and
of pedestrians in Indian cities. To travel inside buses. In our research
design for sustainable transport, with 800 resource poor women drivers, conductors through
we must plan for pedestrians, living in urban villages, resettlement concerted reforms in regulations,
while recognizing the needs of colonies, informal settlements in depot infrastructure, work
different groups of women and Delhi, The Urban Catalysts observed schedules, grievance redress
gender minorities. Specifically, that less than 10 percent of women mechanisms and culture?
gender-based violence, safety had access to any type of phone. Further, our research in Bihar
and sexual harassment in public This made smart phone enabled revealed that a majority of
spaces as well as care giving role real time information inaccessible to paratransit passengers were
predominantly performed by them. Hence SMS-based messaging women. There is a need to
women in Indian cities. system to check the estimated time design integrated systems that
of arrival for the bus needs to be
Caregivers and senior citizens center women, girls and gender
are unnoticed pedestrians. They developed. This could reduce the minorities.
waiting time at the bus stop.
may take a little longer to cross,
so pedestrian signals must be Even in Delhi, which provides We have a long way to
provided and account for this time. fare-free transport in buses, close go…
to 60 percent of resource poor
In 2011, we had 5.6 million We need sustained and bold
women walking between zero to women’s trips in the morning were action towards sustainable mobility
by shared paratransit. Buses would
five kilometers to their workplace. on one hand and ensure that
These distances could be covered often not stop for them, and street gender is centered in all sustainable
easily by cycling. However, women vendors and waste pickers were transport. That means allocating
not allowed to board buses. Bus
constitute less than 5% of all cyclists. budgets, building capacity in our
Though there are many cycling operations and schedules need to urban development, transport,
programmes for girls in the rural cater to women’s mobility, which women and child and social welfare
areas, but there aren’t many female the mohalla bus scheme may have offices and ensuring coordinated
cyclists in cities. Hence one needs the potential to address. action as the transport sector is
to ask, do women have access How can we have more women very fragmented.

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