Women’s Issues in Transportation: Summary of the 4th International Conference, Volume 1: Conference Overview and Plenary Papers (2011)

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128 APPENDIX C Poster Session the conference reception provided an opportunity for authors to present their research and findings in a poster format. the authors were able to have robust and constructive one-on-one conversations with attendees to share their methodologies and findings. this section includes summaries of research papers displayed as posters. environmentAl JUstice, gender, And conFlict in cAliForniA climAte policy Alex Karner, Dana rowan, Jonathan london, Julie sze, and Debbie Niemeier, University of California, Davis the California Global warming solutions Act of 2006 (commonly referred to as AB 32) mandates a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the state to 1990 levels by 2020. this paper examines an emerging conflict between the California Air resources Board and environmental justice advocates over certain provisions and processes included in the regulations, specifically, the use of a cap- and-trade mechanism. Drawing on insights from feminist economics and women’s studies and using data gleaned from the public documents produced to support AB 32 and interviews with participants in the implementation process, this study provides evidence that the discourses evidenced by market proponents and environmental jus- tice advocates as they debate the merits of market and nonmarket approaches are gendered in important ways. Discussions of climate change policy draw on social or cultural ideas and constructs associated with male and female characteristics. In the context of climate change regulation, a masculine bias may disadvantage nonmar- ket approaches. therefore, to ensure the climate change policy does not reproduce inequitable distributions of environmental burden and an unjust social order, addi- tional care must be taken to fully evaluate environmental justice concerns alongside those of market proponents inside and outside of the implementing agencies. Apply- ing a “gender lens” is a potentially powerful method for understanding conflicts within climate change policy and could point toward positive alternative paths. gender mAinstreAming tHroUgH gender reseArcH Åsa vagland and ulla Goranson, VINNOVA In international surveys, sweden is considered to be the locus classicus for gender mainstreaming. At a macro level, the picture is clear, as governmental directives include specific goals for gender equality and expect pub- lic agencies to mainstream gender into their core busi- nesses. At a micro level, the situation is more complex. Formal governance meets with equally strong gendered norms and cultures, but informal, driving forces among civil servants. the question raised in this paper is how the management control system functions under pres- sure from mainstreaming gender. with an interpretive approach, research has been conducted to disclose con- structions that tend to enable or hamper gender equality in the practice of management control at a micro level. the evidence stems from a case study of the swedish road Administration and the swedish National rail Adminis- tration that was conducted through interviews, observa- tions at meetings, and close reading of documents. the data cover the years between 2002 and 2007 with regard to the policy goal of a gender-equal transport system. Application of a gender perspective together with a soci- ological institutional perspective makes gendered rules, norms, and culture visible. the results show how man- agement control is involved in gender integration pro- cesses by assimilation and by decoupling and obstructing transformative gender mainstreaming. the administra- tion presents itself as fulfilling the goal. It legitimizes its activities by reporting relative fulfillment in accordance with the rules of the control system, regardless of the relevance connected to the norms of gender equality. the management control system perpetuates a culture in which reliability lies in measurability; therefore the goal of gender equality results in a quantitative perspective on

129PostEr sEssIoN women and men instead of a qualitative gender perspec- tive on the transport system. Women’s sAFety And secUrity issUes WitH Bicycling And WAlking: An exAminAtion oF potentiAl plAnning, design, And tecHnology solUtions stephen vaughn, University of Illinois at Chicago In the nonmotorized transportation field, gender differ- ences in bicycling and walking are well documented and personal safety has been identified as a deterrent to their increased use. this concern for safety is not limited to the physical environment of the roadways, but includes the individual’s perception of safety in the surrounding neighborhoods and in the environment of multiuse paths and lanes. this paper explores application of crime pre- vention through environmental design to address safety concerns. It also examines gender issues using data from the National Crime victimization survey and the FBI’s National Incident-Based reporting system to identify major safety and security concerns. the study results recommend the safety, Education, marketing, and Infor- mation approach, which focuses on improving nonmotor- ized user safety with technology while educating vehicle drivers and nonmotorists and increasing public awareness through marketing campaigns. successfully integrating nonmotorized transportation within a vehicle-dominant environment requires major planning and policy changes. Planning recommendations include ensuring the conti- nuity of the path and lane network; maintaining well-lit facilities; removing or minimizing areas and conditions that encourage loitering, public nuisance, and crime against women bicyclists and pedestrians; and other sug- gestions. Policy recommendations include aggressively enforcing laws to protect cyclists and pedestrians within and in the vicinity of the roadway and increasing spending to improve conditions in the nonmotorized transportation infrastructure. older Women’s trAvel pAtterns And roAd Accident involvement in BritAin Christopher G. B. mitchell, Consultant, United Kingdom In European countries and in North America, fewer women than men are killed or injured in traffic acci- dents as pedestrians or car drivers. this paper reviews the safety of male and female car drivers as measured by the risk to the driver and the risk the driver imposes on other road users. In terms of casualty rates per popula- tion, where appropriate per driving license, per distance driven, and per journey, women younger than 60 have a lower risk than men of both injuring themselves and injuring other road users. Younger adult women make more journeys than men of the same age, but travel less far. older women make fewer journeys than men. For both men and women, journeys for nonwork purposes increase for ages over about 60. women travel more as car passengers than men and less as car drivers at all ages. men make more journeys as pedestrians than women, but women make more journeys by local pub- lic transport. these patterns repeat in every country for which data are available. this paper uses British data as its primary source, supplemented with data from swe- den and the united states, to analyze the mobility and safety of female and male car drivers and pedestrians. Younger women are significantly safer drivers than men, but women cease to be safer drivers over the age of 60 or 70. the same applies to the risk they pose to other road users, as measured by their risk of killing a pedestrian. some evidence shows that older women voluntarily restrict the amount of driving they do at younger ages than men, but there is no evidence that in Britain they surrender driving licenses at a younger age than male drivers. the fatality rate per journey as a pedestrian is higher than that as a car driver. Any policy that caused car trips by those age 70 and over to become foot trips would increase total fatalities and serious injuries in traf- fic accidents. privAcy And gender: revieWing Women’s AttitUdes toWArd privAcy in context oF intelligent trAnsportAtion systems And locAtion-BAsed services Caitlin D. Cottrill and Piyushimita (vonu) thakuriah, University of Illinois at Chicago Newer generations of Intelligent transportation sys- tems (Its) and location-Based services (lBs) technolo- gies depend on inputs of personalized and localized information that may make individuals hesitant to share such information and raise locational privacy concerns. At the same time, such technologies have the potential to provide information that addresses women’s com- plex and unique travel patterns, such as real-time itiner- ary planning or dynamic ridesharing with members of a women’s social network. the objective of this paper is to examine gender differences in the propensity to reveal potentially sensitive information of the kind that would make Its and lBs information highly person- alized to individuals travelers. Based on findings from previous survey research that links question refusals in surveys to privacy, the study uses privacy indicators

130 womEN’s IssuEs IN trANsPortAtIoN, volumE 1 based on response refusals to sociodemographic and location information in a household travel survey to evaluate if women have a significantly different attitude toward willingness to share data compared with men. the results show gender differences regarding privacy preferences are not statistically significant. this result is inconclusive, however, because the survey overall achieved low response rates and participating house- holds may be more open to divulging sensitive travel and locational information. gender And sAFety in pUBlic trAnsportAtion: An explorAtive stUdy in tHe sUB-sAHArAn AFricAn city oF lAgos, nigeriA Bashir olufemi odufuwa, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria H. Geerlings, Erasmus University, Netherlands women constitute an important proportion of the gen- eral population in the world. In most developing coun- tries, gender dimensions of transportation planning and management have been one of the least consid- ered aspects of urban transportation and development. Harassment and loss of property are huge threats faced by women when using public transportation and trans- port infrastructure in cities. Hundreds of millions of women in developing countries lack reasonable access to an adequate supply of safe public transportation services. the problem manifests in countless cities in Nigeria. observations from reviewed literature show that, with regard to mobility, most third world cit- ies offer few perspectives on women and that the gen- eral quality of life of women is substantially lower than that of the general population. this paper explores the ways the increasing wave of deteriorating public trans- port services and transport infrastructure is affecting women’s general livelihoods. Among the research ques- tions this paper addresses are the following: what is the travel pattern of women? what problem or difficul- ties do women face when using public transportation? what is the relationship between gender sensitivity in transportation service and livelihoods of women? what lesson can be learned from gender-sensitive transport policy and infrastructure? to provide answers to these research questions, primary and secondary data were used. through the use of a stratified random sampling technique, 300 questionnaires were distributed among women using public transportation; 100 male users of public transportation were sampled as control group. In addition, operators of public transportation and trans- port management agencies were interviewed. the data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics as well as correlation and regression analysis. the reliability of the research instrument was tested and retested, and triangulation of the data and research techniques were used to test validity. HoW does FeAr oF sexUAl HArAssment on trAnsit AFFect Women’s Use oF trAnsit? Hsin-Ping Hsu, University of California, Irvine the purpose of this study is to understand how women’s fear of sexual harassment on transit changes their transit use and travel behavior. this research was based on in- person focus groups, two online focus groups, and seven individual interviews. the findings reflect the experi- ences and perspectives of 18 female participants in their twenties and thirties. six are white Americans, six are taiwanese, and six are taiwanese who live in the united states. By applying a qualitative research approach, the study found cultural differences are important for women’s perceptions of sexual harassment and women’s attitudes about adequate policy responses. Yet cultural differences are not as important as the availability of a car in influencing how women modify their use of transit in response to sexual harassment. A feasible and effec- tive policy addressing this issue should take the cultural context into consideration. postpArtUm FAtigUe And driving: relAting experiences, tHoUgHts, And opinions 12 Weeks AFter BirtH Kerrie livingstone and Karen Armstrong, Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety, Australia Fatigue in the postnatal period is such a common experi- ence for most mothers that the term “postpartum fatigue” (PPF) has been coined to describe it. when new mothers experience extreme fatigue, their physical health, mental health, and social well being are negatively affected. the link between fatigue and increased risk of road crashes is well documented, yet there is a distinct lack of empirical investigations that focus on the link between PPF and increased risk of injury. the purpose of this investiga- tion was to undertake pilot research to develop an under- standing of the duration of PPF and the performance impairments experienced by new mothers when involved in safety-sensitive activities such as driving a motor vehi- cle. semistructured interviews were undertaken with 24 women in southeast Queensland, Australia, 12 weeks after they had given birth. Key themes were identified,

131PostEr sEssIoN with a particular emphasis toward understanding the link between the participants’ experience of PPF and the impact this had on their overall cognitive and physi- ological functioning as well as their experiences driving. sleep–wake data were also collected, and using the Karo- linska sleepiness scale, the authors also examined the potential crash risk for this group of mothers. the find- ings of this investigation could be used to improve cur- rent knowledge among new mothers and practitioners regarding the mechanisms and consequences of fatigue and to inform interventions that lead to a decreased risk of injury associated with PPF. trAvel time And distAnce regArding gender pAttern cHAnges in tHe pAris region: pAst trends And ForecAsts to 2030 Ariane Nadia Dupont-Kieffer, INRETS–DEST, France this paper investigates the specificities and the evolution of mobility patterns of women and ageing people in the most densely populated region in France—a region that includes Paris and surrounding administrative districts— with the highest gross domestic product per capita in France. Four household travel surveys available from 1976 up to 2001 allowed researchers to compare travel time over years and to forecast mobility up to 2030. the paper focuses on the distinction between constrained trips and nonconstrained trips. Constrained trips are defined as trips where the destination is work, univer- sity, or school. these trips increased recently in terms of time and distance, after a surge in the 1980s, except for women, whose travel time and distance budgets strik- ingly increased. overall mobility increased during the same period, notably as a result of both men and women making nonconstrained trips. It appears that women’s nonconstrained and constrained trips increased more significantly than men’s. rereAding time And geogrApHy From A Feminist perspective: gendered moBility tora Friberg and Annika sandén, Linköping University Chiristina scholten, Malmo University the authors propose that time–geography provides a useful set of analytical tools for examining gendered travel. In particular, time–geography, time–space prisms, and concepts of “projects” serve as models for travel and activity patterns. women tend to be more spatially restricted than men, carry out more care-giving activities, and have shorter commutes. these sorts of differences show that mobility projects exist in spatial and societal contexts, with space, time, gender, and class all serving as structuring principals. the authors explore how to con- nect time–geography, in a cohesive theory, to the gender system, gender contracts, and the role of power. trAvel time And QUAlity oF liFe: A FrAmeWork For Assessing gender And socioeconomic eQUity in trAnsportAtion systems Cassandra Elena Gekas and lisa Aultman-Hall, University of Vermont In the interest of moving toward transportation plan- ning oriented to maximizing quality of life rather than economic efficiency, the authors use data from the 2007 American time use survey to explore travel time differ- ences between men and women of various socioeconomic groups and the relationship of travel time to time spent in activities corresponding to 11 different categories of human needs. the data show that although women spend more time traveling for the purpose of home pro- duction and caring for children, their overall travel-time burden is lower than that of their male counterparts. the same is true for low-income survey respondents. gender considerAtions in perFormAnce meAsUres For tHe Bicycle inFrAstrUctUre Catherine r. Emond, University of California, Davis that the number of men’s bicycle trips in the united states surpasses the number of women’s bicycle trips by a ratio of more than 2:1 may mean the bicycle infrastruc- ture does not serve women’s needs. Bicycle facility design is often guided by design cyclist categories that separate bicyclists by how well they ride in vehicular traffic. since women have been shown to prefer more separation from vehicular traffic than men, this can lead to them hav- ing to choose to travel on bicycle facilities designed for safety at the expense of convenience to community ser- vices. two indices commonly used to assess u.s. bicycle infrastructure, the Bicycle Compatibility Index and the Bicycle level of service, are compared with the Neth- erlands’ Bicycle Cycle bicycle infrastructure survey in an effort to understand the association of gender-blind versus gender-sensitive policies on bicycle infrastructure design and assessment.

132 womEN’s IssuEs IN trANsPortAtIoN, volumE 1 pArents’ perceptions oF cHildren’s sAFety And secUrity in tHe neigHBorHood BUilt environment And decisions ABoUt tHeir mode oF trAvel to scHool Danielle Fontaine, Clark University the purpose of this study was to identify the elements of the neighborhood environment that matter most to par- ents and their decisions about how their children travel to school. to answer this question, the author conducted focus groups and individual interviews with parents of seventh and eighth grade children in worcester, mas- sachusetts, living within 2 miles of school. Parental con- cerns included stranger danger, street crossings, volume and speed of car traffic, and children’s potential tempta- tion to get into trouble along the way. Parents had more concern for the physical safety of girls and the moral safety of boys. tHe role oF Activity AttriBUtes And gender in Activity pArticipAtion And trAvel Kelly Clifton and Gulsah Akar, University of Maryland, College Park sean t. Doherty, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada one area of activity-based approaches to travel demand modeling still unresolved is the way activities are catego- rized. Because some activities previously subject to tem- poral and spatial constraints now have more flexibility, calls have been made to replace these traditional activity groupings with more salient attributes. the purpose of this study is to examine any gender differences in activity participation and travel when activities are regrouped in this way. In particular, the authors grouped activities by duration, weekly frequency, number of people involved, temporal flexibility, spatial flexibility, and personal flex- ibility, and found gender has important implications on activity participation rates. For instance, women partici- pate in more temporally and personally flexible in-home activities and less long and spatially flexible out-of-home activities. Additional differences exist depending on employment and marital status, pointing to the need for greater attention to the potential travel implications of these sorts of trends.