Research on Women's Issues in Transportation - Volume 2: Technical Papers (2005)

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1 7 1 Market Research on Gender-Based Attitudinal Preferences and Travel Behavior Yushuang Zhou, Maren L. Outwater, and Kimon Proussaloglou, Cambridge Systematics, Inc. The attitudinal differences between men and women are examined in terms of how attitudes toward everyday travel vary by gender and to what extent differences in travel behavior can be explained by attitudinal differ- ences. How differences in attitudes and behavior between men and women vary across socioeconomic groups is also addressed. Data for this study came from four attitude-based household surveys in which nearly 40 attitudinal questions were asked to measure respon- dents’ sensitivity to a broad range of experiences that they may encounter during their daily travel and their attitudes toward characteristics of the different travel modes they consider for their travel. The ratings of the attitudinal statements were analyzed to determine whether there is a gender difference; they were also used to segment the survey respondents into distinct market groups according to shared travel attitudes. This study shows that there is significant gender difference in travel attitudes, though the relative rank order of ratings pro- vided by the female respondents was similar to that of the male respondents. It is important to provide a mix of strategies that would be most effective for different market segments with a range of attitudinal preferences and socioeconomic characteristics. Many studies have shown that women’s travelbehavior is significantly different from men’s.Gender differences in travel behavior have been studied extensively (Taylor and Mauch 1997; Rosenbloom and Burns 1994; Gordon et al. 1989; Han- son and Johnston 1985; Madden 1981; Madden and White 1980). The cause of these behavioral differences has been the subject of a variety of research studies. Most of the literature focuses on the traditional interpretation of women’s travel as constrained by their roles in child rearing and the spatial entrapment of women that limits their employment opportunities (Waddell 1996). There is also research on travel attitudes, with many studies suggesting a causal relationship between travel attitudes and travel behavior (Fazio 1986; Proussaloglou and Koppelman 1989; Ajzen 1989). The attitudinal differences between men’s and women’s travel behavior and preferences are examined in this study. The data came from four household sur- veys designed for transit market research analysis. Nearly 40 attitudinal questions were asked in each sur- vey as a way to measure respondents’ sensitivities to a broad range of travel experiences and their attitudes toward characteristics of the different transportation modes. The ratings of the attitudinal questions were ana- lyzed to examine whether there are significant differ- ences between men and women in terms of travel attitudes. They were also used to segment survey respon- dents into distinct market groups by using advanced sta- tistical analysis and to test whether there is a significant gender difference among different market segments. METHODOLOGY Sophisticated market research is at the heart of success- ful business strategies. Interest has been increasing in 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 171

the use of market research in transit studies as evidenced by a number of recent studies under the Transit Coop- erative Research Program (TCRP) on transit markets of the future, transit ridership initiatives, and integration of market research into transit management. However, transit studies have traditionally relied on geography, socioeconomic characteristics, and travel behavior in seeking to understand the demand for transit among different groups. Categorizing travelers into these groups is valuable for understanding the transit market and is one of the reasons why this study—and others— continue to analyze survey data by demographic and travel behavior dimensions. However, to better under- stand the reasons why travelers choose different modes for everyday travel, an approach is needed that breaks away from these stereotypes and instead determines the attitudes that drive their mode choice. A market research approach is introduced here that is based on household surveys for four market research studies, including one in San Diego, two in the San Fran- cisco Bay Area, and one in the Salt Lake City area in Utah. All four household surveys include socioeco- nomic, travel behavior, and attitudinal questions. Each survey respondent was asked to provide ratings that reflected the level of agreement with each attitudinal statement on a scale of 0 to 10, in which 0 means strong disagreement, 10 means strong agreement, and 5 means neutral. The ratings of all the attitudinal statements were analyzed to examine whether there are significant gender differences. The attitudinal ratings were also used to segment survey respondents into market groups according to shared travel attitudes, to analyze how travelers’ specific attitudes drive their preferences for transit services, and to examine gender differences of various market segments. A market research approach was developed that uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to simultaneously identify the attitudes of travel behaviors and the causal relationships among travelers’ socioeconomic profiles, travel attitudes, and travel behavior. The attitudinal- based market analysis was conducted in the following four steps: Step 1. Use factor analysis to identify traveler atti- tudes: Factor analysis was used to classify the attitudi- nal variables so as to reduce their number and detect the structural relationships between these attitudinal vari- ables while retaining the explanatory power of each manifest attitudinal statement. Step 2. Use SEM to link traveler attitudes to demo- graphic characteristics: Socioeconomic and demo- graphic variables are related to the attitudinal factors by using SEM, which serves purposes similar to those of multiple regression analysis but in a more powerful way. Both manifest and latent variables can easily be brought into SEM models, which are estimated simultaneously rather than sequentially. Step 3. Use cluster analysis to segment the traveler market: Distinct market segments based on people’s atti- tudes toward travel are identified. The core concept of market segmentation is to view a market as distinct seg- ments rather than one homogeneous group. Those within the same segment share similar attitudes toward travel behavior, whereas those in different segments hold different views. Step 4. Apply the SEM and market segmentation mod- els to the general population: The survey-based models are applied to the general population in the study areas to estimate the population in different market segments at the geographic level. Thus, not only the attitudinal pref- erence of each market segment is known but also where each market segment is distributed geographically. The SEM approach is a powerful tool to improve the understanding of travel behavior and to improve transit service. Applications of SEM to travel behavior research date from around 1980, but the method was not widely used in transportation research until the late 1990s, when the application of SEM started to expand (Golob 2001). This approach can significantly increase the ability to answer important questions for better transit planning such as what attitudes and preferences drive each market seg- ment’s choice for local travel options and what strategies would be most effective for each market segment. In all four case studies, the basic market segmenta- tion approach was similar to the process described ear- lier; in each case, however, the segmentation schemes varied in terms of the dimensions used to segment, and the application that was used to estimate potential tran- sit usage was different. CASE STUDIES Gender-based market research results are presented from four case studies of different transit agencies. San Diego Association of Governments A two-part study was undertaken in early 2000 for the Metropolitan Transit Development Board in San Diego and in 2003 for the San Diego Association of Govern- ments to analyze transit programs (Proussaloglou et al. 2001). The study used data collected in September 2003 from a random sample of 1,304 households in the San Diego area. Seven attitudinal statements showed a gender difference of over 0.5: 1. Women feel less safe than men do: 1 7 2 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 172

–Women do not feel comfortable walking in a parking garage at night, whereas men do (3.97 for women and 6.70 for men). –Women marginally feel comfortable walking in the Gaslamp Quarters during the night, whereas men feel much more comfortable in doing so (5.51 for women and 7.21 for men). –Women are more likely to avoid traveling to cer- tain areas in the region because they are unsafe (6.31 for women and 5.10 for men). –Both men and women feel comfortable walking in downtown San Diego during the day, but the degree of safety sense is much stronger among men (7.39 for women and 8.34 for men). 2. Women are more sensitive to time but more will- ing to trade time for comfort in traveling. –When making a trip, women are more likely to be in a hurry than men (5.95 for women and 5.43 for men). –Women are more willing to change the form of travel if it would save time (5.18 for women and 4.65 for men). 3. Men are more likely to agree with the statement “the type of transportation that people use reflects their social status” (5.13 for women and 5.83 for men). Three attitudinal factors—sensitivity to personal travel experience, sensitivity to personal safety, and need for flexibility and speed—were used to segment the mar- ket, resulting in six distinct segments (ovals, Figure 1). A comparison among these market segments highlights the concentration of female respondents in the segments Cautious Runabouts and Flexible Flyers. The Cautious Runabouts segment consists of exclusively female respondents with an overrepresentation of middle-aged part-time workers and homemakers. The segment is characterized by both its very high need for flexibility and speed and its greater concern about personal safety compared with any other segment. With women accounting for 80% of its members, the Flexible Flyers segment is for travelers who have a high need for flexi- bility and speed but are not sensitive to their personal travel experiences and have a high sensitivity to per- sonal safety. This segment has high concentrations of female homemakers between 30 and 45 years old. Intrepid Trekkers and Conventional Cruisers are two segments dominated by men. Intrepid Trekkers is a seg- ment with 100% of males younger than 45. Its members exhibit a relatively high need for flexibility and speed, a medium level of sensitivity to their personal travel expe- rience, and generally no concern with personal safety. 1 7 3MARKET RESEARCH ON GENDER-BASED PREFERENCES Residents in San Diego Association of Governments Area “Need for Flexibility and Speed” “Sensitivity to Personal Safety” “Personal Travel Experience” More Need for Flexibility and SpeedLess Need for Flexibility and Speed High Sensitivity to Experience Conventional Cruisers Cautious Runabouts Intrepid Trekkers Easy Goers Road Runners Flexible Flyers Female 20 % 40% 50% 100% 0 % 80 % Male 80 % 60% 50% 0% 100% 20% F1 – F2 – F3 – High Sensitivity to Experience Low Sensitivity to Experience Low Sensitivity to Experience Medium Sensitivity to Experience High Sensitivity to Personal Safety Low Sensitivity to Personal Safety FIGURE 1 Market segmentation for San Diego Association of Governments. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 173

Conventional Cruisers do not show a particular need for flexibility and speed, but they are highly sensitive to their personal travel experience. An analysis of the socioeconomic profile of the Conventional Cruisers seg- ment indicates that it has a lower average age and a much larger percentage of car availability with higher- than-average incomes. San Mateo County Transit District This case study aimed to support the long-range trans- portation plan for the San Mateo County Transit Dis- trict (SamTrans) (Zhou et al. 2004). Data were collected in fall 2002 on a random sample of 526 in the SamTrans service area. It included 42 attitudinal variables, most of which are similar to the ones in the Water Transit Authority (WTA) survey (discussed later). A compari- son of average attitudinal ratings reveals the following key gender differences: 1. Women feel less safe than men: –The statement with the highest gender difference is “I avoid traveling through certain areas because they are unsafe” (6.9 for women and 5.3 for men). –The statement with the second-highest gender difference is “I would feel safe walking to the bus stop or train station” (6.57 for women and 8.07 for men). –Both men and women generally feel safe walking around the destination, but the average rating for women (7.52) is much lower than that of men (8.39). –Men and women agree with the statement “I feel safe using public transportation,” but again the rating for women (7.19) is lower than that of men (7.88). –Neither women nor men worry about getting in an accident when traveling, but men’s average rating (3.78) on this statement is lower than that of women (4.39). 2. Women are more sensitive to stress: –Women rank much higher on the statement “Having a stress-free trip is more important than reaching the destination quickly” (6.41 for women and 5.72 for men). –Women are more likely to avoid traveling at cer- tain times because it is too stressful (6.18 for women and 5.56 for men). 3. Women’s schedules are more constrained than men’s: –Women have a more fixed schedule (6.77) than men do (5.86) as reflected in the statement “I need to make trips according to a fixed schedule.” –Women tend to use the most convenient form of transportation regardless of cost (7.51 for women and 6.89 for men). –Women have the higher need to arrive at a desti- nation by a specific time (8.19 for women and 7.60 for men). The attitudinal statements were grouped into eight atti- tudinal factors: privacy and comfort, productive use of time, safety and familiarity, time and flexibility, easy-going and environmentally friendly attitudes, value of time, reli- ability and control, and fixed schedule constraints. Three of the factors with the highest statistical reliability—value of time, privacy and comfort, and schedule constraints— were used in the market segmentation (Figure 2). Diligent Chargers, Tense Trekkers, Cautious Amblers, and Rigid Flyers are four market segments with a very high concen- tration of women. Both Diligent Chargers and Rigid Fly- ers have a high value of time and highly fixed schedules, whereas Tense Trekkers have a low value of time but highly fixed schedules. Shy Cruisers is a segment with a high proportion of male respondents, with flexible sched- ules, a high value of time, and need for a high level of pri- vacy. The other three market segments (Wary Runabouts, Solo Ramblers, and Outgoing Multitaskers) have a nearly even distribution of the two genders. Gender was an important variable for the SamTrans model, which was based on 10 different socioeconomic variables, including sex, children per household, number of workers and number of vehicles in the household, employment status, education level, marital status, age, and household income and size. As a note of caution, it is important to avoid assigning an individual to a seg- ment solely on the basis of demographic characteristics. For example, both Diligent Chargers and Rigid Flyers have a large cohort of upper-income, married women with children. Nonetheless, these two segments have key differences across personal safety, time flexibility, and their attitudes toward privacy and comfort. Simply iden- tifying someone as an upper-income married woman does not help in identifying appropriate services—the underlying attitudes and preferences are more impor- tant. The strength in predicting segment membership comes from using all 10 socioeconomic characteristics in conjunction with attitudinal preferences. San Francisco Bay Area WTA This case study was to assist the San Francisco Bay Area WTA in evaluating expanded ferry service (Outwater et al. 2003) on the basis of data collected in fall 2001 from a random sample of 852 potential ferry riders. The average ratings of attitudinal statements were cal- culated and compared for each gender group. There was not much gender difference in the 30 attitudinal state- ments. However, more differences start to emerge when one looks at gender and age together. Research has con- 1 7 4 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 174

cluded that although gender differences in travel behavior exist at every age level, they are especially pronounced among older respondents (Spain 1997). The same pattern appears to be applicable in this research. Respondents 65 and older show the highest gender difference in attitudi- nal ratings, with more than one-third of the attitudinal statements having ratings differences greater than 1.5 and almost all statements with a gender difference of more than 0.5. The other age group that shows significant gen- der difference is people younger than 18. There is not as much gender difference for all other age groups. The 30 attitudinal statements were grouped into six attitudinal factors: desire to help the environment, need for time savings, need for flexibility, sensitivity to travel stress, insensitivity to transport cost, and sensitivity to personal travel experience. An SEM model was devel- oped to relate the six attitudinal factors with the 30 atti- tudinal statements and socioeconomic variables including household size, number of children under 18, household vehicle ownership, number of workers, age information, income level, and education level. Unlike the SamTrans study, gender turned out to be an insignif- icant variable in the WTA attitudinal models; therefore, it was dropped from the SEM model. The scores for all attitudinal factors were calculated, and cluster analysis was used to segment all potential ferry riders on the basis of three of the attitudinal fac- tors: desire to help the environment, need for time sav- ings, and sensitivity to stress. Figure 3 shows how each of the three attitudinal factors was used to divide survey respondents into two groups, one with modest sensitiv- ity and one with strong sensitivity to environmental issues, resulting in a stratification of eight market seg- ments. Each market segment is identified with a descrip- tive name that invokes the primary drivers behind the travelers’ attitudes. For example, Joe Six-Pack was the name of the segment whose members show no interest in environmental issues, do not care about time savings, and have a low level of stress in their daily lives. At the bottom of Figure 3 is the gender breakdown of each market segment. It was clear that there are few gender differences by market segment, although there is a slightly higher female population among the Anxious Ambler segment (57% are women) and Reserved Recy- cler segment (56% are women), both of which show a high level of stress and do not care about time savings. The other six market segments have a nearly even dis- tribution between men and women. Utah Transit Authority This study was to help the Utah Transit Authority in identifying the best strategies to increase their transit 1 7 5MARKET RESEARCH ON GENDER-BASED PREFERENCES All Travelers Within, Into, and Out of San Mateo County Male Female Focus Market Segment Factor One: Privacy Factor Six: Fixed Schedule Factor Eight: Value of Time Low Value of Time Flexible Schedule Less Privacy Cautious Amblers Solo Ramblers None of These Factors Privacy Schedule Schedule and Privacy Value of Time Value of Time and Privacy Value of Time and Schedule Value of Time, Schedule, and Privacy Outgoing Multitaskers Tense Trekkers Wary Runabouts Shy Cruisers Diligent Chargers Rigid Flyers More Privacy More Privacy More Privacy More Privacy Less Privacy Less Privacy Less Privacy Flexible Schedule Fixed Schedule Fixed Schedule High Value of Time 90% 47% 46% 87% 62% 30% 84% 95% 10% 53% 54% 13% 38% 70% 16% 5% FIGURE 2 Market segmentation for SamTrans. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 175

ridership on the basis of data collected in 2003 from a random sample of 522 households, including 38 attitu- dinal questions. Ten of the attitudinal statements have a gender difference of more than 0.5: 1. Women feel less safe than men: –Women avoid traveling through certain areas because they are unsafe (5.60 for women and 3.91 for men). –Both men and women feel safe walking near home and at destinations, but the degree of safety is much higher among men (6.81 for women and 8.30 for men). –Both men and women feel safe using public transportation, but men feel much safer (6.73 for women and 7.91 for men). –For the statement “I don’t mind traveling with strangers,” the women’s rating (5.07) is lower than that of the men (6.08). –Neither men nor women worry about getting into an accident when they travel, although men (4.54) are much less concerned about it than are women (3.71). 2. Women are likely to avoid traveling at certain times because it is too stressful (5.72 for women and 4.47 for men). 3. Both men and women prefer to be the driver when traveling with others. With an average rating of 6.83, men have a stronger preference than women (5.51). 4. Men are more likely to change their form of travel if it would save time (6.30 for women and 6.95 for men). 5. Women are more likely to take the fastest form of transportation regardless of cost (6.98 for women and 6.40 for men). 6. Having privacy during travel is important, but more important to women than to men (6.58 for women and 5.95 for men). Three of eight attitudinal factors (sensitivity to time, need for fixed schedule, and willingness to use transit) were used in the market segmentation (Figure 4). Anx- ious Amblers, Cautious Flyers, and Cautious 9 to 5ers are the three segments with a much higher percentage of women. Anxious Amblers have very low willingness to use transit, flexible schedules, and low sensitivity to travel time. However, this segment also shows high sen- sitivity to safety and privacy and is the segment most sensitive to stress and comfort. Nearly two-thirds are women, mostly retired at age 65 or older. Cautious Fly- ers have low desire to improve air quality and lowest willingness to use transit, a high desire for productivity, 1 7 6 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION Modest Environmental Less Time Savings Less Stressed Joe Six-Pack Anxious Ambler Calm Charger Frazzled Flyer Green Cruiser Reserved Recycler Relaxed Runabout Tense Trekker None of These Factors Stress Time Time and Stress Environment Environment and Stress Environment and Time Environment, Time, and Stress More Stressed Less Stressed More Stressed Less Stressed More Stressed Less Stressed More Stressed More Time Savings More Time Savings Less Time Savings Strong Environmental Male Female Focus Market Segment Factor Four Factor Two Factor One All Trans-Bay Trippers 49% 57% 43% 48% 46% 56% 45% 56% 51% 43% 57% 52% 54% 44% 55% 44% FIGURE 3 Market segmentation for WTA. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 176

high sensitivity to safety and privacy, but low sensitivity to stress and comfort. This segment also has flexible schedules but exhibits a high sensitivity to travel time. The majority of this segment are young married women with children, and most of them belong to one-worker households. Cautious 9 to 5ers is the segment with the lowest desire to help the environment and a low will- ingness to use transit. It exhibits the highest desire for productivity and reliability, fixed schedules, and a high sensitivity to time. It is the segment most sensitive to safety and privacy but not to stress and comfort. Most of those in this segment are young and middle-aged working women. Productive 9 to 5ers, Routine Flyers, and Green Rid- ers are the segments with a high concentration of male population. Productive 9 to 5ers is a segment with a low desire to help the environment, low willingness to use transit, low sensitivity to time, fixed schedules, and low sensitivity to stress and comfort but a high desire for productivity and reliability and high sensitivity for safety and privacy. All members of this segment are employed either full time or part time. Routine Flyers have a strong desire to help the environment and a high willingness to use transit. They also have fixed sched- ules, high desire for productivity and reliability, and the highest sensitivity to time although they are not very sensitive to safety and privacy and exhibit low sensitiv- ity to stress and comfort. Most of those in this segment are young and middle-aged men who are married with children. Green Riders is a segment with high desire to improve air quality and the highest willingness to use transit. They have a low desire for productivity and reli- ability, low sensitivity to time, and very flexible sched- ules. This is the market segment that is least sensitive to safety and privacy with a high sensitivity toward stress and comfort. CONCLUSION For many years, the transportation profession has ana- lyzed problems and designed solutions in terms of trav- eler attributes and levels of service by competing modes. However, these traditional planning practices often fail to uncover the attitudes that drive decision making, much less design services in a way so that these decision- making “hot buttons” are hit. Although demographic characteristics provide a portrait of who is or is not using a particular service, these characteristics are not helpful in understanding the key attitudes and percep- tions that lead to mode choice. In this paper, the rela- tionship among these attitudes and perceptions is the key piece of information that was used to define market segments, help define transit agencies’ desired market 1 7 7MARKET RESEARCH ON GENDER-BASED PREFERENCES All Travelers in Utah Transit Authority Service Area Low Sensitivity to Time Flexible Schedule No Transit Transit Transit Transit TransitNo Transit No Transit No Transit Anxious Amblers Green Riders Routine Riders Green Flyers Routine Flyers Productive 9 to 5ers Cautious Flyers Cautious 9 to 5ers None of These Factors Transit Fixed Schedule and Transit Time and Transit Time, Fixed Schedule, and Transit Fixed Schedule Time Time and Fixed Schedule Flexible Schedule Fixed Schedule Fixed Schedule High Sensitivity to Time Male Female Focus Market Segment Factor Seven: Willingness to Use Transit Factor Five: Need for Fixed Schedule Factor Three: Sensitivity to Time 63% 38% 22% 39% 88% 45% 70% 35% 37% 62% 78% 61% 12% 55% 30% 65% FIGURE 4 Market segmentation for Utah Transit Authority. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 177

position, and identify the services and strategies that are critical to achieve that position in the marketplace. This research indicates that market segments often cut across social and economic groupings. Nevertheless, common socioeconomic characteristics may be a conve- nient and sometimes accurate proxy for a market seg- ment defined by the shared attitudes of its members. Such a generalization, however, poses a strong tempta- tion to oversimplify: not all Road Runners are rich and middle-aged and not all Easy Goers are poor and old. Only the most rigorous market segmentation modeling practices can help to answer important questions such as what the markets are for local travel modes and what attitudes and preferences drive each market segment’s choice for local travel options. The answers to these two questions will help to provide insights into a most important question for transit service marketing, that is, what strategies would be most effective for each market segment? Transit agencies can target specific segments for their services or products on the basis of potential riders’ attitudes and preferences. These market research results show that there is a significant gender difference in travel attitudes. Women tend to have higher sensitivity to safety and stronger desire for a stress-free ride. They are more constrained by fixed schedules and more likely to think of transit as a means of helping the environment. However, the rela- tive rank order of ratings provided by women respon- dents was similar to the relative ratings given by men. This finding suggests that despite the greater intensity shown by women respondents, the same dimensions of service proved to be important to both groups. The study also shows that gender differences are affected by socioeconomic and demographic status. Age, marital status, education level, employment status, household size, number of children, number of workers, number of vehicles, and annual household income influ- ence travelers’ attitudes. Last, it should be noted that people have different attitudes toward different types of transit service. For example, for those who live in the San Francisco Bay Area, attitudes toward ferry services by WTA may be different from attitudes toward bus ser- vices provided by SamTrans. The understanding of these differences can help provide insights into important questions for transit service marketing and help to design a mix of strategies that would be most effective for different market segments with a range of attitudinal preferences and different socioeconomic characteristics. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors thank the following for their support: Dave Shumacher and Jeff Martin of the San Diego Associa- tion of Governments; Corinne Goodrich of SamTrans; Steve Castleberry of the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority; and David Hubert, Steve Swan, Gerry Pachucki, Gary Kitchen, and Paul Bay of the Utah Transit Authority. REFERENCES Ajzen, I. 1989. Attitude Structure and Behavior. In Attitude Structure and Function (A. R. Pratkanis, S. J. Breckler, and A. G. Greenwald, eds.), Lawrence Erlbaum Associ- ates, Inc., Mahwah, N.J., pp. 241–274. Fazio, R. H. 1986. How Do Attitudes Guide Behavior? In Handbook of Motivation and Cognition: Foundations of Social Behavior (R. M. Sorrentino and E. T. Higgins, eds.), The Guilford Press, New York, pp. 204–243. Golob, T. F. 2001. Structural Equation Modeling for Travel Behavior Research: Literature Review. Center for Activ- ity System Analysis, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Irvine. Gordon, P., A. Kumar, and H. Richardson. 1989. Gender Dif- ferences in Metropolitan Travel Behavior. Regional Studies, Vol. 23, pp. 499–510. Hanson, S., and I. Johnston. 1985. Gender Differences in Work-Trip Length: Explanations and Implications. Urban Geography, Vol. 6, pp. 193–219. Madden, J. 1981. Why Women Work Closer to Home. Urban Studies, Vol. 18, pp. 181–194. Madden, J., and M. White. 1980. Spatial Implications of Increases in the Female Labor Force: A Theoretical and Empirical Synthesis. Land Economics, Vol. 56, pp. 432–446. Outwater, M. L., S. Castleberry, Y. Shiftan, M. Ben-Akiva, Y. S. Zhou, and A. Kuppam. 2003. Attitudinal Market Segmentation Approach to Mode Choice and Ridership Forecasting: Structural Equation Modeling. In Trans- portation Research Record: Journal of the Transporta- tion Research Board, No. 1854, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washing- ton, D.C., pp. 32–42. Proussaloglou, K. E., and F. S. Koppelman. 1989. Use of Trav- elers’ Attitudes in Rail Service Design. In Transporta- tion Research Record 1221, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., pp. 42–50. Proussaloglou, K. E. , K. Haskell, R. L. Vaidya, and M. E. Ben-Akiva. 2001. Attitudinal Market Segmentation Approach to Commuter Mode Choice and Transit Ser- vice Design. Presented at 80th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C. Rosenbloom, S., and E. Burns. 1994. Why Working Women Drive Alone: Implications for Travel Reduction Programs. In Transportation Research Record 1459, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., pp. 39–45. Spain, D. 1997. Societal Trends: The Aging Baby Boom and Women’s Increased Independence. Technical Report. 1 7 8 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 178

DTFH61-97-P-00314. FHWA, U.S. Department of Transportation. Taylor, B., and M. Mauch. 1997. Gender, Race, and Travel Behavior: An Analysis of Household-Serving Travel and Commuting in the San Francisco Bay Area. In Women’s Travel Issues: Proceedings from the Second National Conference, Report FHWA-PL-97-024, FHWA, U.S. Department of Transportation, pp. 674–688. Waddell, P. 1996. Accessibility and Residential Location: The Interaction of Workplace, Residential Mobility, Tenure, and Location Choices. Presented at 1996 Lincoln Land Institute TRED Conference. www.odot.state.or.us/ tddtpan/modeling.html. Zhou, Y., K. Viswanathan, Y. Popuri, and K. E. Proussaloglou. 2004. Transit District Customers in San Mateo County, California: Who, Why, Where, and How. In Trans- portation Research Record: Journal of the Transporta- tion Research Board, No. 1887, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washing- ton, D.C., pp. 183–192. 1 7 9MARKET RESEARCH ON GENDER-BASED PREFERENCES 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 179

1 8 0 Integration of Gender Equality into Transport Policy and Practice in Sweden Merritt Polk, Göteborg University, Sweden To evaluate how policy makers have applied gender equality in Swedish transport policy and practice, two studies are compiled. The first briefly summarizes how gender equality has been integrated into transport pol- icy in Sweden from 1997 to 2002. The second addresses the practical integration of gender equality into the transportation sector. Results are presented from a study that focuses on differences between women’s and men’s experiences with road infrastructure; on preferences regarding different parts of the road system; and on the priority rankings of the different goals in the trans- portation sector such as accessibility, effectiveness, safety, regional development, and a good environment. Interviews were held with 47 experts, users, professional driving instructors, and inspectors. In general, women have a more cooperative approach to road system infra- structure and the problems therein, and men are more individualistic. However, there are also noteworthy dif- ferences among age, socioeconomic group, and residen- tial location. This study is a first step toward gathering knowledge that can be used on a practical level to attain a more gender-equal transportation system in Sweden. What is a gender-equal transportation system?How can it be obtained? Such questionshave come to Swedish transportation departments in response to legislation enacted in 2001 that made gender equality the sixth goal of transport policy. The gender equality goal is worded in the fol- lowing way: “The transportation system shall be designed so that both women’s and men’s travel needs are satisfied; women and men shall be given the same possibilities to influence the system’s design, formation and administration; and women’s and men’s values shall receive equal consideration” (Proposition 2001/02:20).1 Anyone familiar with the intricacies of transport and gender might nod contentedly at such a formulation. Even given the limitations of political rhetoric, this proposal was able to address three important cornerstones for gender mainstreaming and transport, namely, concrete differences between women’s and men’s travel needs, gendered attitudes and valuations of transportation facilities, and gen- dered distribution of power and influence within the sector. If gender mainstreaming is defined as “efforts to scrutinize and reinvent processes of policy forma- tion and implementation across all issue areas to address and rectify persistent and emerging disparities between men and women” (True and Mintrom 2001, 28), then the Swedish example should stand out as exemplary. However, can such a formulation rectify differences between women and men in actuality? Given this political triumph, can gender mainstream- ing be considered successful with regard to the Swedish transportation sector? Unfortunately, the questions still remain as to what a gender-equal transportation system actually entails and how it can be attained in practice. The aim of this paper is to present both a policy-oriented and a practical approach to attaining more gender equality in the trans- 1 All of the translations in this paper are by the author. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 180

port sector. The results of two research projects dealing with the implementation of gender mainstreaming will be presented. The first briefly reviews the process by which gender equality was integrated into transport pol- icy in Sweden from 1997 to 2002 [a more in-depth pre- sentation may be found elsewhere (Polk 2004)]. The second, which forms the main body of the paper, pre- sents condensed results from a descriptive interview study that focuses on differences between women’s and men’s valuations of road system infrastructure.2 GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN SWEDISH TRANSPORT POLICY It is important to understand the contours of the gender mainstreaming debate. Gender will be used here to refer to the socially constructed differences between individu- als that are specifically linked to or generalized in terms of differences between women and men. However, gen- der is not just about women and men. It also works through and with other social categories such as socioe- conomic group, age, and race. It is a theoretical concept that encompasses many different social factors and processes, from individual behaviors and structural orga- nization to the meanings and symbols manifest in every- day life. A researcher in tourism notes the importance of recognizing that “all processes involved in transport are constructed out of gendered societies: thus gendered ide- ologies are important components of access to, and the nature, use and impacts of transport” (Hall 2004, 246). Specific examples are found in traditional masculine and feminine stereotypes surrounding the professional roles women and men have in the transportation sector, in how the media portray women and men in their relations to the car, and in whose opinions and expertise underlie decision making and planning. Gender equality, in the same vein, will refer to the alleviation of gender discrimi- nation and its political ramifications such as who is envi- sioned as the typical user, as the experts, and as competent for making and influencing planning and policy decisions. As is well known, gender equality has a long and rather successful history in Swedish politics. The first gender equality law, from 1993, demanded that a gen- der perspective pervade all policy and planning in the public sector. The incorporation of gender into the transportation sector began to take form in 1994, when the Swedish parliament adopted a national directive requiring that all committees and working groups include an analysis of how their proposals affect gender equality (Direktiv 1994:124). Within the transportation sector, this directive was applied as part of the overall process of designing policy for a sustainable transporta- tion system. In this process, one of the expert groups called in 1996 dealt specifically with gender equality. The resulting final background report on transportation policy, A New Course in Transportation Policy, has one chapter that addresses gender equality [Swedish Gov- ernment Official Report (SOU) 1997:350]. In that chapter, gender equality is exemplified with quantifiable differences between women and men. The main topics taken up are travel patterns and women’s and men’s representation in the sector. Those differences that are cited—women traveling shorter distances by slower modes and being underrepresented in decision making— are explained as being due to traditional social relations such as women taking more responsibility for the house- hold and children. However, what this report does not discuss is that there are also significant differences between the travel patterns of women and men who are fully employed, single, and have no children (Polk 1998). A recurring problem with integrating the wider concept of gender equality into transportation policy from the beginning of this process has been oversimplification. The reports often simply equate “gender equality” with “women” and limit differences between women and men to those that can be quantified. In general, the reasons underlying power relationships within the sector, as well as the symbolic associations of masculinity and feminin- ity with movement, technology, and personal identity, are markedly absent in the early documents dealing with transportation policy in Sweden. The next step in gender mainstreaming occurred in 1998, when a governmental proposition resulted in the appointment of an advisory council, the Gender Equal- ity Council, to collect information and suggest measures for attaining gender equality within the transportation and information technology (IT) sectors (Proposition 1997/98:56). Its final report, Gender Equality—Trans- portation and IT, was presented in June 2001 (SOU 2001:44). This report presents an in-depth analysis of both the individual and institutional levels within the transportation sector. Here governmental responsibility for gender equality is seen in how socioeconomic mod- eling, public bidding, and political representation and decision making in all of the various parts of the trans- portation sector, including those outside the political realm, such as business interests, could best implement or even enforce gender equality (SOU 2001:44). The report defines gender equality in an encompassing fash- ion. It does not equate “women” with “gender equal- ity” in any of the discussions. However, even given this breadth, the reasons that underlie how and why gender has had and still has such an influence in the trans- portation sector are lacking. The Gender Equality Council report furthermore gives little or no attention to the symbolic level of analysis, especially to the gen- dered connotations of what cars, movement, and mobil- 1 8 1INTEGRATION OF GENDER EQUALITY INTO TRANSPORT POLICY AND PRACTICE 2 This project was funded by the Swedish Road Administration. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 181

ity mean to women and men and to Swedish society in general. Nor does it emphasize the differences in women’s and men’s travel patterns and attitudes that could result in a greater proclivity of women to conform to a sustainable transportation system (Polk 2003). On the whole, the most important contribution of the Gender Equality Council’s report is the recommendation that gender equality have a more prominent position in transport policy. This recommendation occurred in Octo- ber 2001, when gender equality was added as the sixth goal of Swedish transport policy (Proposition 2001/02:20). Following this decision, a number of docu- ments were written, three of which deal with public trans- portation and with transport problems and solutions in the Stockholm region (SOU 2001:51; SOU 2001:106; SOU 2002:11). Though supposedly under the auspices of the gender equality goal, none of these examples main- tain the standards set by the Gender Equality Council. Gender is either decidedly lacking or mentioned in a sim- plistic fashion. For example, throughout the text when gender is mentioned it is equated with women and gender equality with public transportation. Thus although gen- der mainstreaming has taken on a prominent role in offi- cial Swedish transport policy on one level, it has not been followed by any real integration in subsequent work. However, this legislation has encouraged more attention to what gender equality could entail in practice. The inter- view study discussed later, for example, was designed and developed in close collaboration with the Swedish Road Administration (SRA) to implement the gender equality goal in its ongoing work. GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN PRACTICE In order to work with the practical integration of gender mainstreaming within the transportation sector, it is important to ask what a gender-equal transportation sys- tem is. The legislation cited by way of introduction gives some guidance. A gender-equal transportation system is envisioned as one in which women and men are equally represented in decision making and planning, women’s and men’s travel needs are equally satisfied, and women’s and men’s values are given comparable weight. These cri- teria appear rather straightforward, yet a number of ques- tions arise: How can the gendered distribution of power and influence in the sector be evaluated? What criteria can be used to judge whether women’s and men’s travel needs are adequately satisfied? More important, what do gender-equal travel patterns look like? What do “values” mean in this context? And finally, if consensus can be reached regarding what a gender-equal transportation system actually entails, how can it be attained? Two main theoretically and empirically distinguish- able issues are raised in the gender equality goal. The first emphasizes the gendered distribution of power and influence in the public sector. The success of this emphasis, it is reasoned, will ensure that concrete dif- ferences between women and men will be thoroughly integrated into all decisions and planning when women and men participate equally. However, even given equal participation, the classic liberal approach to gender equality has faced well-known limitations, such as glass ceilings and other types of limited access to power and influence. All in all, an equal number of women and men increases but does not ensure women’s equal participation. For example, all of the governmental committees cited in the previous section had an equal number of women and men, but this fact did not change how superficially gender was dealt with in a majority of the reports. It is therefore essential to separate gender distributions of power from the inequalities that exist between women and men that are a result of their unequal status and position in soci- ety. In other words, within transport policy, structural and organizational distributions of power must be analyzed and dealt with separately from differences in individual needs and experiences related to transporta- tion. The second of the two issues raised in the goal formulation addresses this latter point by highlighting the role of concrete differences between women’s and men’s travel behavior and valuations of the transport sector. This is the starting point for the following inter- view study, which maps out gender differences in valu- ations through targeting experiences with road system infrastructure. GENDER ANALYSIS OF SWEDISH ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE The overall goal of this study is to identify concrete dif- ferences in women’s and men’s relations to road system infrastructure that could lead to the formulation of spe- cific proposals to increase gender equality. The research question is, do women and men have the same experi- ence, preferences, and opinions regarding the design of road system infrastructure in Sweden? More specifically, this study deals with women’s and men’s experiences with road infrastructure, with preferences regarding dif- ferent parts of the road system, and with their priority ranking of the transport policy goals of accessibility, effectiveness, safety, regional development, and a good environment. Interview Study The interview study started with a series of in-depth interviews with employees from SRA in September 2003. 1 8 2 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 182

Next, transport users, professional driving instructors, and inspectors were interviewed during fall 2003. A total of 47 interviews were held.3 The user interviews will form the main body of the following results. Results from the expert and practitioner interviews will be briefly summarized. Interviews with Experts and Practitioners SRA is the national authority with overall sector respon- sibility for road transport in Sweden. It is responsible for designing and applying road regulations as well as for the planning, construction, operation, and mainte- nance of state roads. Among other things, SRA works with issues such as environmental impact, traffic safety, accessibility, public transportation, commercial traffic, and contributions to regional development. Employees at SRA are perceived as experts in the context of this study. The expert interviews were initially designed to reach a better understanding of the knowledge base surround- ing gender equality that was already in place at the department. Thirteen experts were interviewed at two different times. The expert interviews were held to ascertain the overall position that individuals at SRA held regarding the new gender equality goal. A letter was sent to each interviewee a week before the interview that presented the project and gave a list of questions on gender equality that the respondents were encouraged to consider. Each interview took an hour and was recorded. The 13 interviewed experts are employed at a unit responsible for the formation of handbooks and guide- lines for road planning and construction. The first round of interviews included four women and nine men. The four women worked with natural and cul- tural aspects, the environment, unprotected users, and security issues in the road design handbooks. The men worked with various parts of the road system such as signs, public transportation, planning, road work, road design, bus stops, handicapped access, causal interactions, and lighting. The preparatory questions were the following: What do you think about the latest goal for transport policy, namely, gender equality? How do you think gender equality can be integrated into the SRA work? What would a gender-equal transportation system look like? What does gender equality mean for you concretely in relationship to your work? Can you suggest any specific dimensions or aspects in your work that may have rele- vance for gender equality? This material was analyzed as the basis for the user interviews, which were conducted during fall 2003.4 Four interviews were also held with driving instruc- tors and traffic inspectors, including two men and two women from Göteborg and Stockholm, respectively.5 Such practitioners have extensive experience with indi- viduals’ first experiences with road system infrastruc- ture. The questions asked dealt with their opinions regarding gender differences in knowledge, skill, interest, and learning and testing ability surrounding the driving and testing situation. User Interviews The user interview was designed to map gendered expe- riences with road system infrastructure from the per- spective of the user. A few points always come up regarding gender and transport. For example, women are seen as being more safety conscious in their role as caretakers, more conscious of threats to their personal safety, more defensive in their driving skills, and more inclined to use public transportation (METRO 2004a; SOU 2001:44). The user interview was designed to test such assumptions as well as to go beyond such stereo- typical generalizations by targeting other potential fac- tors such as preferences for different types of roads, experiences while driving, and suggestions for improving road infrastructure. The selection of individuals for the user interviews was based on demographic and geographic factors. These included age, residential location, socioeconomic group, and sex. Ages varied from 22 to 75. Half of the users were women. A majority of individuals came from the two largest cities, Stockholm and Göteborg. Rural areas and two other smaller towns were included. The interview consisted of a list of questions dealing with three areas. The first included opinions of how specific 1 8 3INTEGRATION OF GENDER EQUALITY INTO TRANSPORT POLICY AND PRACTICE 3 Thirty users, 13 experts, and four practitioners were interviewed. 4 The results of the user interviews were also summarized and pre- sented to the same unit that was originally interviewed in spring 2004. The experts were asked to critique a preliminary version of a questionnaire that was designed to test the results of the interview study on a more representative sample. This questionnaire survey was sent out to 3,000 residents in April 2004. The results of this survey were completed in December 2004 and presented in a report to SRA in January 2005. 5 In Sweden, obtaining a driver’s license is a rather arduous process. It can cost from $1,000 to $2,000, which is spent for classes and material on theory and practical driving skills. Traffic schools with driving instructors offer this type of education. To obtain a driver’s license one must first pass a theoretical test, which takes approxi- mately 45 min and costs around $30. After this a driving test can be taken, which takes approximately one hour and costs around $100. Driving lessons cost around $50 per hour. Traffic inspectors are responsible for the driving test for licensing. They test around 1,000 potential drivers per year. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 183

parts of the road system were designed and functioned such as traffic information, speed barriers, road work, and road maintenance; the second, with positive and negative experiences with driving; and the third, with opinions of political goals in the transportation sector. Results of Interview Studies Experts’ and Practitioners’ Opinions on Gender Differences The expert and practitioner interviews were designed to function as a point of departure for the ensuing user analysis. Thus specific differences between women and men experts and practitioners and their opinions regard- ing gender equality were not the primary focus. How- ever, as noted earlier, an equal number of women and men were included whenever discretion allowed, and dif- ferences between female and male respondents were noted. Overall, all but one of the female experts thought that gender equality is an important social goal as well as something that should be integrated into their work at SRA. The male experts, however, had a wider variety of opinions regarding the importance and place of gender equality, from very supportive to very negative. In general, three main orientations arise when gender differences are discussed with experts and practitioners. The first and most common view is that gender differ- ences are either nonexistent or unimportant in the con- text of the transport sector. This view is held by a majority of the men and two of the women. It is based on the reasoning that even though there are differences between women and men and their travel needs or pref- erences, such differences lack relevance and therefore have no place in the work at SRA. Such experts and practitioners believe that it is more important that all users be ensured equal accessibility regardless of sex and that this aspect is already covered in ensuring that the transport system be accessible to all. The five goals of transport policy (accessibility, effectiveness, safety, regional development, and the environment) are claimed to be much more essential than gender equality. Given limited resources, gender differences are seen to be trivial in relation to, for example, road-related deaths and global warming. Even though all of the interviewed experts and practitioners support gender equality wholeheartedly in a wider social context, a majority of the men and two of the women doubt its relevance and importance for the transport sector and for their work in particular. The gender equality goal is even seen as a waste of time by some of these experts. The second orientation supports the position that gen- der equality is an important and relevant issue for the transport sector. This position is based on gender differ- ences in travel patterns, experiences, and representation in the sector and suggests that gender differences could be used to improve the transportation system given that women are less involved in serious accidents, use the car to a lesser extent, and are more environmentally and safety conscious. Many examples were brought up regarding differences between the representation of women and men in different positions of power at SRA and in the sex segregation of work responsibilities. For example, it was noted that women are more often rele- gated to the “soft” areas of responsibility such as unpro- tected users and the needs of the physically disabled. This position of strong support for the relevance of gender equality is held by a minority of the interviewed men and by a majority of the interviewed women. The third and most commonly held position by a majority of the interviewed men is somewhere between the two foregoing extremes. It can be summed up as a debate regarding whether there are significant differ- ences between women’s and men’s relations to road infrastructure, what these differences consist of in prac- ticality, and if they have any relevance to the work that is done at SRA. Regarding the interviewed practitioners, none of the driving instructors or inspectors think that there are pronounced differences between women and men regarding their driving skills. There is a tendency for women to be easier to deal with as students and as test takers since men, more often than women, tend to over- estimate their driving ability. On the whole, the inter- viewed practitioners believe that differences between women and men are in the process of change. All believe that women and men are equally competent drivers. However, it is noted that there are differences in women’s and men’s self-confidence while driving. In general, women are experienced as more defensive and insecure regarding their driving ability and men as less defensive and more confident. User Interviews The user interviews are presented in three parts: experi- ences with road system infrastructure, preferences sur- rounding how the road system functions, and opinions regarding the transportation system in general and the transport political goals. Experiences with Road System Infrastructure The section dealing with experiences with road system infrastructure includes questions on traffic signs (both regulatory and informative), pavement markings, phys- ical safety measures, and speed limits. One of the main 1 8 4 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 184

question groups dealt with safety measures, in which three topics were considered: passing lanes, traffic calm- ing, and speed control. Roads with alternating passing lanes (referred to here as 2+1 roads) are a relatively new occurrence in Sweden.6 They have received a great deal of monetary backing since they have shown great effi- ciency in reducing accidents and deaths. Although pub- lic support is also great, a number of worries are voiced in the interviews. For example, a number of women and men worry about having car trouble on such roads or an accident while in the single lane. Since there are both a wire fence dividing each lane from oncoming traffic and a side fence and no shoulder to speak of, there is no place to pull off the road in case of car trouble. One respondent, a 53-year-old man from Stockholm, sums up such views: I think they are really good [the passing lanes]. The only thing I wonder about is what happens if you have car trouble, especially if you have a wider car, in one of those single lanes. In some places there’s barely enough room for one car, and especially when it’s dark—there’s no shoulder to pull off on. I think that this is a rather worrying thought. But otherwise, it’s a very good system. Regarding traffic calming, about half of the respon- dents, including both women and men, are positive about the use of curb extensions and speed bumps, espe- cially around schools and crosswalks. One problem that is noted by both women and men is that they are not marked clearly enough or are used indiscriminately. The same respondent cited earlier said: “They put them in without any warning. I crashed into one by where I live. Pretty fun! I drove right into that damn cement block.” A number of women note the environmental prob- lems that are connected with traffic calming measures due to driving patterns (braking and speeding up) and idling due to congestion. Men comment that the mea- sures are unpredictable, need better warnings, and hin- der traffic flow. None of the men note the environmental problems with such measures. In general, women point out the environmental impact and health problems (for commercial drivers, from jarring and shifting of lanes) that can be caused by speed bumps and curb extensions. Regarding speed limits, women’s and men’s experi- ences seem to be more due to driving experience than to gender, though women support lower speed limits more than men do. For example, women are more positive about lower speed limits near schools and in residential areas. No men suggest lowering speed limits in towns. However, one young man, as well as a few young women, thinks that the base speed limit of 70 km/h on rural roads is sometimes too high. In contrast, a few women support higher speeds on motorways. Some younger men are also conscious of the safety and environmental impacts related to higher speeds. Preferences Surrounding How Road System Functions Another way of gaining insight into women’s and men’s outlook on road system infrastructure is to ask about how roads work for them. This insight includes prefer- ences regarding factors that induce stress while driving and preferences for different types of roads. The respon- dents were asked to describe what situations made them stressed or irritated while driving. Most of the answers have to do with other drivers and not with the road sys- tem itself or with traffic rules. Most of the respondents are stressed or irritated by slow drivers, tailgaters, and reckless persons or those who do not follow traffic rules. The most striking difference between women and men is that relatively few women say that they get mad or irri- tated. An older woman (62), from a small town, replies to this query in the following way: No, not really ever, because I’m patient. I do think it’s unnecessary for people to drive too fast, if they drive 150 km or so. I don’t think that’s very good or unnecessary passing and such. However, if someone drives too slowly, that doesn’t bother me. Because it can be someone who doesn’t see very well, you never know what the problem is so there’s nothing to get mad about. Overall, women formulate stress in terms of safety or danger. Women express fear when they describe unpleasant situations, such as being confronted with reckless driving. Men, however, express stress and irri- tation when they are hindered while driving. However, one noteworthy exception is a 45-year-old woman from Stockholm: People who drive slowly make me stressed. But it can’t be helped. I’m not so bothered by people who drive too fast, and a little recklessly, that’s less irritat- ing. (Is there a specific group that drives slower?) Yes, women. (A certain age?) No, I don’t think so. I think it’s because women don’t drive as much as men. It’s often women who drive slowly. In general, a majority of the women do not think there are differences between women’s and men’s driv- ing abilities. The differences mentioned deal with differ- 1 8 5INTEGRATION OF GENDER EQUALITY INTO TRANSPORT POLICY AND PRACTICE 6 The term 2+1 roads refers to a two-lane road that has a passing lane on either side every 5 km. Such roads in Sweden are divided by a wire fence as well as bounded by a wire fence on each side. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 185

ences in behavior and attitudes toward driving. For example, a 26-year old woman from Göteborg says: They [men] have a greater need to drive fast and there should be good roads that you can drive fast on, ‘cause that’s what they do. We [women] are rather satisfied and better able to adapt, I think. That’s what it feels like in any case. Regarding road choice, many different motives were mentioned. Most often they were time or distance related. The main difference between women and men was that women give more of a variety of motives regarding their road choice. Men are more inclined to state that time was the main motive. In general, men are more inclined to choose freeways for safety and time considerations. Women choose a variety of roads for rea- sons related to traffic flow, diversity, safety, and general pleasantness. Opinions Regarding Transportation System in General and Transport Political Goals As was noted by way of introduction, an important part of gender equality is the equal participation of women and men in the transport sector. Today women have less influence than men. An important question is therefore whether women would support the same measures to improve transportation as men, with regard to both long-term planning and more immediate solutions to different types of problems. The results from the inter- view study imply that this support may well be actual. The largest difference between women and men is that women more often suggest proposals that would improve travel for other users, such as children, the elderly, and the handicapped, as this 40-year-old woman from Stockholm states: I would like to divide pedestrians into two categories, adults and children, because they react so differently. Children aren’t visible and they think differently . . . so, for planning they should have a special category for children. I wonder if anyone thinks this way, because I think that children always come last. If their needs came first, things would look very different. The only men who suggest proposals that favor pedestrians or bicyclists are 30 or younger and live in the countryside or are older and have many years of experience as bus drivers or traffic inspectors. Overall, more than half of the proposals that men suggest would improve roads for cars only. In other words, the middle- aged men who were interviewed propose measures that favor their individual needs. During the final phase of the interview the five trans- port policy goals were presented to the respondents: accessibility, effectiveness, safety, regional development, and a good environment. The respondents were asked to pick one or two that they believed were most impor- tant. The most striking difference between women’s and men’s answers is that women gave priority to the envi- ronmental goal; in second place came safety and access, most often in combination with a good environment. Only a fourth of the men gave priority to the environ- ment and a little under half chose safety. No men between the ages of 30 and 65 gave priority to the envi- ronment. In other words, only younger and older men were concerned with the environmental goal. There is no such demographic tendency among women. Older and younger as well as richer and poorer were equally inclined to support the environmental goal. CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION In the user interviews, two main reservations need to be noted. The first is the difficulty in unraveling gender from other background factors, and the second is the size of the sample. With such a small sample, 30 individuals, it is difficult to come to any robust conclusions regarding what is more typical for all women or for all men since there were also striking differences in terms of age, socioe- conomic position, and residential location. For example, age seems to have a greater impact on men’s answers. Older and younger men are more environmentally con- cerned than those who are middle aged. There are no such trends with the women. For example, two of the women, both from a higher socioeconomic group in Stockholm, stand out as having answers that resemble men’s more than women’s. Again, without a larger sample it is impos- sible to unravel the influence of sex from that of residen- tial location and socioeconomic position. Rural and urban residence also clearly affect perceptions of prob- lems with the road system and thereby what solutions are cited as most needed. Most interestingly, these demo- graphic and geographic factors affect women less than men, thus complicating and concealing but by no means decreasing the influence of gender. In addition to demographic and geographic factors, two polarized dimensions play an important role in ori- enting attitudes toward road system infrastructure. The first deals with how individuals relate to social prob- lems—if they see them solely from their own perspective or if they also voice concern regarding how other indi- viduals deal with similar situations. The influence of this factor is usually referred to as beliefs or value ori- entation from within the social psychological tradition in studying car use (Garvill 1990; Gärling et al. 1998; Jakobsson 2004; Nordlund 2002). In general individu- 1 8 6 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 186

als who are more aware of the needs of others, as opposed to their own needs, will be more inclined to have values that are more inclusive and altruistic, including proenvironmental attitudes. It has been sug- gested that women are socialized into being coopera- tive, nurturing, and aware of the needs of others in their gender roles to a greater extent than men (Beutel and Marini 1995). The second dimension deals with how aware individu- als are of the complexity of traffic-related problems. The awareness of risks, seriousness of environmental degra- dation, and propensity for understanding and following traffic rules vary according to experience and expertise in the sector. Among the respondents, the men who have experience as professional drivers have opinions and con- cerns that resemble women’s more than men’s. Overall, women show a tendency to be more collectively oriented and to have less experience in traffic situations. Both of these dimensions amplify women’s orientation as being more socially responsible and cooperative. In the interview results, three specific areas within road system infrastructure were identified as having a gender dimension: security and safety, experience with driving, and transport policy goals. The area dealing with security and safety shows conclusive gender differences. In the interviews, women had a much more developed consciousness regarding both their personal security and overall traffic safety. The results suggest that women experience safety as more impor- tant than men, especially with regard to unprotected users such as pedestrians and cyclists and the elderly. Women also express a greater need than men to follow traffic rules, such as speed limits, because they are safer. A difference between women and men drivers in Sweden and their safety and atti- tudes while driving has been noted since the 1980s (METRO 2004b; SRA 2002; Spolander 1983). In general, women driv- ers underestimate their driving skills, whereas men overesti- mate theirs (Spolander 1992). Women are also involved in fewer and less serious accidents than men (METRO 2004b). However, there is recent empirical evidence that suggests that women’s driving patterns are starting to resemble men’s in that women are taking more risks and are increasingly involved in traffic-related accidents (Forward et al. 1998). The second area deals with experiences with driving. Women and men seem to have different experiences with stress and irritation in the traffic situation, which can affect their preferences for different types of roads as well as their support for proposals to improve road infrastructure. Women are more inclined to experience more stress in relation to bad lighting, drivers who speed, and icy roads. Men, however, show more irrita- tion with hindrances such as stoplights and slow speed limits. Such differences in orientation could well play out in giving priority to different types of roads that are more geared to emphasizing safety for a majority of users as opposed to time saving and speed. The third area is transport policy goals. In this area, as in others, women are more inclined to note other traf- fic users’ needs as well as to emphasize political goals and proposals that satisfy a variety of users. For exam- ple, women have more positive attitudes toward safety measures that are inconvenient for them but lead to pos- itive results for more users. Women also have a greater tendency to note the conflicts between the different pol- icy goals, such as safety and the environment. In gen- eral, women have a more collective or cooperative orientation to road system infrastructure and men a more individualistic one. The results of these two studies show the relevance of including gender as an analytical tool in research con- ducted in the transport sector in Sweden, but this action is by no means enough. The success of integrating gen- der equality as a political strategy is dependent on both the conceptual and the practical role of gender within the sector. This integration includes both the equal rep- resentation of women and men in decision making and planning and the incorporation of women’s travel needs and opinions into the work that is carried out within the sector. Within policy, the use of gender should better acknowledge, understand, and integrate the depth and breadth of gender theory and analysis in order to ade- quately subsume the complexity of women’s and men’s relations to transportation. Within practice, more research is needed to better understand whether and how decisions made in the sec- tor mirror both women’s and men’s opinions and travel needs. This research includes women’s and men’s valua- tions of different parts of the transportation system, their attitudes toward solving transport-related problems, and their travel patterns. As the results indicate here, there are some potentially profound differences in how women and men experience road system infrastructure that could change road system planning and design. Further- more, some groups of men (such as older, younger, and those with professional knowledge) have experience with road system infrastructure that resembles that of women. Any changes toward a more gender-equal transportation system would therefore satisfy not only women’s needs and experiences but also those of the men who share such needs and experiences. It is hoped that the results presented here are a first step in mapping valuations of road infrastructure that can lead to attaining a trans- portation system that better satisfies the needs and expe- riences of a variety of users, women and men, young and old, and experienced and inexperienced. REFERENCES Beutel, A., and M. Marini. 1995. Gender and Values. Ameri- can Sociological Review, Vol. 60, June, pp. 436–448. 1 8 7INTEGRATION OF GENDER EQUALITY INTO TRANSPORT POLICY AND PRACTICE 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 187

Direktiv 1994:124. Kommittédirektiv. Direktiv till samtliga kommittéer och särskilda utredare att redovisa jämställd- hetspolitiska konsekvenser. Beslut vid regeringssam- manträde 94-11-10. Forward, S., I. Linderholm, and S. Järnmark. 1998. Women and Traffic Accidents: Causes, Consequences and Con- siderations. Presented at 24th International Congress of Applied Psychology, San Francisco, Aug. Garvill, J. 1990. Choice of Transportation Mode: Factors Influ- encing Drivers’ Willingness to Reduce Personal Car Use and Support Car Regulations. In Resolving Social Dilem- mas: Dynamic, Structural and Intergroup Aspects (M. Foddy, ed.), Taylor and Francis, Psychology Press, Ann Arbor, Mich. Gärling, T., R. Gillholm, and A. Gärling. 1998. Reintroducing Attitude Theory in Travel Behavior Research. Trans- portation, Vol. 25, pp. 129–146. Hall, D. 2004. Towards a Gendered Transport Geography. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 12, pp. 245–247. Jakobsson, C. 2004. Motivational and Volitional Control of Private Automobile Use: The Effectiveness of Trans- port Policies. Psykologiska institutionen, Göteborg, Sweden. METRO. 2004a. Kvinnor kör bättre än män. March. METRO. 2004b. Män bakom ratten vid vansinneskörningarna. Aug. Nordlund, A. 2002. Environmentally Significant Behavior: Effects of Values, Norms, Attitudes and Habits. Doc- toral Dissertation. Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Sweden. Polk, M. 1998. Gendered Mobility: A Study of Women’s and Men’s Relations to Automobility in Sweden. Humanekologiska Skrifter 17. Doctoral dissertation. Department of Interdiscipinary Studies, Section of Human Ecology, Göteborg, Sweden. Polk, M. 2003. Are Women Potentially More Accommodating Than Men to a Sustainable Transportation System in Sweden? Transportation Research D, pp. 75–95. Polk, M. 2004. The Influence of Gender on Daily Car Use and Willingness to Reduce Car Use in Sweden. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 185–195. Proposition 1997/98:56. Transportpolitik för en hållbar utveckling. Riksdagens tryckeri, Stockholm, Sweden. www.regeringen.se/sb/d/108. Proposition 2001/02:20. Infrastruktur för ett långsiktigt håll- bart transportsystem. Riksdagens tryckeri, Stockholm, Sweden. www.regeringen.se/sb/d/108. SOU 1997:35. Ny kurs i trafikpolitiken: slutbetänkande av Kommunikationskommittén. Norstedts Tryckeri AB, Stockholm. www.regeringen.se/sb/d/108. SOU 2001:44. Jämställdhet—transporter och IT. Slut- betänkande från Jämit—Jämställdhetsrådet för trans- porter och IT. Elanders Gotab AB, Stockholm. www.regeringen.se/sb/d/108. SOU 2001:51. Transportsystemet i Stockholmsregionen— Problemanalys och målbild för den framtida utvecklin- gen. Delbetänkande från Stockholmsberedningen, Stockholm. www.regeringen.se/sb/d/108. SOU 2001:106. Kollektivtrafik med människan i centrum. Delbetänkande från Kollektivtrafikkommittén, Stock- holm. www.regeringen.se/sb/d/108. SOU 2002:11. Långsiktiga utvecklingsstrategier för transportsys- temet i Stockholm—Mälardalsregionen. Delbetänkande av Stockholmsberedningen, Stockholm. www.regeringen.se/ sb/d/108. Spolander, K. 1983. Bilförarnas uppfattning om egen körför- mågan. VTI Rapport Nr. 252. Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, Linköping. Spolander, K. 1992. Män och kvinnor bakom ratten. Statisk- tiska Centralbyrån, Stockholm. SRA. 2002. Publikation 2002:56 Trafiksäkerhet: Resultat från 2001 års enkätundersökning. Borlänge. www.regeringen. se/sb/d/108. True, J., and M. Mintrom. 2001. Transnational Networks and Policy Diffusions: The Case of Gender Mainstreaming. International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 45, pp. 27–57. 1 8 8 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 188

1 8 9 Gender Equality as a Subsidiary Objective of Swedish Transport Policy Åsa Vagland, Swedish Institute for Transport and Communications Analysis A description is given of how the Swedish government decided in 2001 to add a sixth subsidiary transport pol- icy objective on gender equality in the transport system and developments since then. The most important steps toward gender equality in the transport system were taken in 1998, when the government proposed that a new advisory council, the Gender Equality Council for Transport and Information Technology, be appointed; in 2001, when the government decided to add the gender equality objective; and in 2002, when the Swedish Insti- tute for Transport and Communications Analysis (SIKA) was instructed by the government to produce proposals for intermediate objectives within the transport policy objective of gender equality in the transport system. The government’s next step will most likely be to give SIKA a new commission to work out intermediate objectives for gender equality to attain a transport system that is designed to meet the needs of both men and women. Adescription is given of how the Swedish govern-ment decided in 2001 to add a sixth subsidiarytransport policy objective on gender equality in the transport system and developments since then. TRANSPORT POLICY OBJECTIVES AND SUBSIDIARY OBJECTIVES IN SWEDEN Swedish transport policy is guided by an overall objec- tive and six subsidiary objectives for different areas. The subsidiary objectives refer to more precise goals specify- ing the objectives for different parts of the transport policy. The subsidiary objectives are meant to help attain the overall objective. In the hierarchy of objec- tives there are also intermediate objectives to help attain the subsidiary objectives. These objectives were set out by the Swedish parliament, Riksdagen, during the period 1998–2001. The overall objective for transport policy is to ensure socially and economically efficient and long-term sustain- able transport resources for the public and industry throughout Sweden. The subsidiary objectives as follows: • Accessible transport system: The transport system should be designed so that the basic transport needs of the public and industry will be satisfied. • Positive regional development: The transport sys- tem should promote positive regional development both by equalizing differences in opportunities for develop- ment in various parts of Sweden and by counteracting disadvantages of long transport distances. • Gender equality: The transport system should be designed so that it meets both men’s and women’s trans- port requirements. Women and men should have the same opportunities to influence the construction, design, and management of the transport system, and their values should be given equal weight. • High transport quality: The design and operation of the transport system should allow high transport quality for the public and industry. • Safe traffic: The long-term objective for traffic safety is that no one be killed or seriously injured as a 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 189

result of a traffic accident. The design and operation of the transport system must be adapted to the demands following from this objective. • Good environment: The design and operation of the transport system should be adapted to the require- ment of a good living environment for everyone, in which nature and the environment are protected from damage. The effective management of land, water, energy, and other natural resources must be promoted. The long-term objectives are to remain in effect for an extended period of time. They are to stand for conti- nuity and a long-term perspective in transport policy. There is no internal order of priority between the long- term objectives. Ultimately, all subsidiary objectives are to be achieved. In the short term, it will sometimes be necessary to rank the subsidiary objectives by priority. This ranking should primarily be accomplished by means of intermediate objec- tives that are realistic, taking into consideration available resources, technical possibilities, and international com- mitments, and they are to be coordinated. ORGANIZATION OF SWEDISH TRANSPORT SECTOR The Swedish government has relatively small ministries compared with those in many other European countries. Instead of large ministries, there are many Swedish expert agencies that provide the government with mate- rial for decision making. One such expert agency is the Swedish Institute for Transport and Communications Analysis (SIKA), responsible to the Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications. SIKA analyzes and presents data and establishes a basis for planning in the transport and communications sector. The institute pro- vides the actors in the sector with statistics, descriptions of the present situation, forecasts, and descriptions of consequences. SIKA has an annual commission from the government to evaluate how transport policy objectives are attained and is also engaged in developing the objec- tives and how they can be quantified and measured. Sweden also has four transport agencies (Figure 1): the National Rail Administration (Banverket), the National Road Administration (Vägverket), the Swedish Maritime Administration (Sjöfartsverket), and the Civil Aviation Administration (Luftfartsverket), which are responsible for each mode of transport. The agencies in Sweden are governed by a governmental brief (instruktioner) and annual governmental guidelines included in the agency’s budget document (regleringsbrev). The governmental brief regulates the agency’s purpose and includes the agency’s main tasks in a long-term perspective. The governmental brief is usually not changed very often. In December every year the agencies receive the annual budget document, including the governmental guidelines, for the coming year. The governmental guidelines consist of the main tasks in the short term and sometimes special commissions for the agency to carry out. HISTORY OF INTEGRATION OF GENDER EQUALITY INTO TRANSPORT POLICY IN SWEDEN The fact that the Swedish government has relatively small ministries also affects the work assigned to parlia- mentary committees. In Sweden, the preparation of a new government bill usually starts by the appointment of a committee to work with the question and to make recommendations in a report, whereas in other Euro- pean countries, the work mainly takes place inside the ministry. In 1988 the government set objectives for the repre- sentation of men and women in parliamentary commit- tees, executive boards, and steering committees. In 1995 the proportion of women in parliamentary committees was 38%, which increased to 42% in 1998. In 2001 the representation of women was 41%. In 1994 the Swedish parliament adopted a national directive requiring that all committees and working groups include an analysis of how their proposals affect gender equality (Direktiv 1994:1241). The aim of this directive was to require the active mainstreaming of gender equality in all sectors of Swedish society. This 1994 directive can be seen as the first step in the process to incorporate a gender perspective into the transport sector. 1 9 0 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY, EMPLOYMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS GOVERNMENT RIKSDAGEN (Swedish Parliament) SWEDISH INST. FOR TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS ANALYSIS NATIONAL ROAD ADM. NATIONAL RAIL ADM. SWEDISH MARITIME ADM. CIVIL AVIATION ADM. FIGURE 1 Organization of Swedish transport sector. 1 Translated by Polk (2004a). 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 190

New Course in Transport Policy The first parliamentary committee within the transport sector after the 1994 directive was the Committee for Communications (Kommunikationskommittén). Its mis- sion was to present a national long-term plan for new infrastructure and communications in Sweden, and the committee’s final report on transport policy, Transport Policy for Sustainable Development [Swedish Govern- ment Official Report (SOU) 1997:35], was the main input to the government bill (Government Bill 1997/98:56). In this process, one of the expert groups called in dealt specifically with gender equality, and the final report includes some proposals concerning gender equality. The report states: The whole of transport policy is thus to be permeated by equal opportunities. All proposals and decisions are to be preceded by analyses of their consequences for men and women. A more equal distribution of power is needed in planning and decision-making. . . . The sexes are very unevenly balanced in present- day infrastructure and transport planning. (SOU 1997:35, 64) Transport Policy for Sustainable Development In 1998 the Swedish parliament adopted a transport pol- icy decision based on Government Bill 1997/98:56, which replaced the previous transport policy decision from 1988. The underlying concept is that transport policy is a means of achieving important goals in society. It should con- tribute to socially, culturally, economically, and ecologi- cally sustainable development. Together with the overall objective there were five subsidiary objectives: accessible transport system, positive regional development, high transport quality, safe traffic, and good environment. In Government Bill 1997/98:56, appointment of a new advisory council is proposed, the Gender Equality Council for Transport and IT (Information Technology) (Jämit–Jämställdhetsrådet för transporter och IT) (Gov- ernment Bill 1997/98:56, 71). The council was to inves- tigate the connections between gender equality and the communications sector. The topics noted as important for the transport sector were physical planning, traffic planning, strategies for the environment, safety, and use of transport technologies as well as competence and recruiting within the sector. Gender Equality: Transport and IT In the committee directive the council was asked to elu- cidate problems and propose measures to strengthen gender equality within the transport and IT sectors. This mission included collecting knowledge dealing with gender equality and the areas in focus; stimulating the development of methods for gender analysis; dis- cussing gender equality with regard to security, deci- sion making, and planning; and analyzing the decision-making and planning processes within the state, municipalities, and the private sector (Direktiv 1999:83, 4). The final report is the most thorough example of integration of gender equality into the transport sec- tor in Sweden; the report presents and analyzes a lot of relevant facts about the gender equality situation in the transport sector. The council also delivers a list of proposals to the government. The most important proposal was, of course, the new transport policy objective: gender equality in the transport system. Other proposals concerned methods for analyses and presentation of gender equality in the transport sector. In the referral process a majority of the referral bod- ies were positive toward a new transport policy objec- tive concerning gender equality in the transport system, although several of the referral bodies pre- ferred that gender equality be analyzed within the other subsidiary objectives and that the overall objec- tive include gender equality instead of there being a new subsidiary objective. Infrastructure for a Long-Term Sustainable Transport System In December 2001, the Swedish parliament established the sixth subsidiary objective for achieving the transport policy objective of ensuring an economically efficient, sustainable transport system for citizens and businesses throughout the country. The sixth subsidiary objective was formulated as fol- lows: The transport system should be designed so that it meets the conditions and travel needs of both women and men. Women and men are to have the same oppor- tunities to influence the initiation, design, and adminis- tration of the transport system and their values are to be given the same weight. RESULTS SO FAR As mentioned earlier, the subsidiary objective on gen- der equality was established in December 2001. This part of the paper will deal with the governmental direc- tives to the transport agencies and SIKA and other activities by the transport agencies, SIKA, or other organizations. 1 9 1GENDER EQUALITY AS A SUBSIDIARY OBJECTIVE OF SWEDISH TRANSPORT POLICY 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 191

Government’s Annual Guidelines and Commissions to Agencies As mentioned earlier, the government agencies in Sweden are governed by a governmental brief (instruktioner) and annual governmental guidelines given in the agency’s bud- get document (regleringsbrev). In December every year the agencies receive the annual budget document, including the governmental guidelines, for the coming year. For most of the transport agencies, the annual budget document for 2002 did not include any special commis- sions concerning the new objective of gender equality in the transport system. In the annual budget document for SIKA there were two separate commissions concern- ing gender equality: to produce proposals for intermedi- ate objectives within the transport policy objective of gender equality in the transport system and to clarify how effects of infrastructure measures can be analyzed and presented regarding men, women, and children. Intermediate Objectives for Gender Equality in the Transport System In 2002 SIKA was instructed by the government to pro- duce proposals for intermediate objectives within the transport policy objective of gender equality in the transport system. SIKA submitted the report in October 2002 (SIKA Rapport 2002:5). There are different aspects of the subsidiary objective of gender equality in the transport system. In the report various principles for approaches to gender equality are discussed. SIKA’s discussion is quoted below: It is possible to conceive of the subsidiary objective as meaning that the transport system should be adapted to make women’s and men’s present travel easier. However, this approach is not self-evident, since it could be argued that we are in this way confirming an unequal social behaviour, expressed, for instance, by men using a car to travel to work, and women being responsible for journeys related to care and purchas- ing. It is possible that an adaptation of the transport system to today’s transport could favour women as a group in the short perspective. However, in the long- term, there is a risk that this adaptation will disad- vantage women and perhaps also counteract the general efforts for gender equality in society. Neither is an approach wholly self-evident that entails that present social behaviour is to be changed by measures in the transport system, among other rea- sons because this involves a focus on the symptoms of inequality rather than the basic causes of these defi- ciencies. Changes in the transport system cannot be an effective way of reducing gender equality problems in society. In our view, the transport system must sub- stantially be developed in step with society as a whole. However, we do not see any difficulties in principle or in-built contradictions with an approach that entails that planning and decision-making structures are changed so as to give equal weight to women’s and men’s values. This involves several types of measures: More and more women at every level and function in the transport sector where they are underrepresented; Identifying informal structures of this kind, which are interwoven in the design and administration of the transport system and that can be assumed to work against a more equal transport system; Developing rules and approaches that ensure that consideration is always given to gender equality aspects in the plan- ning, decision-making and administration of the transport system. (SIKA Rapport 2002:5, 5–6) The report also presents some background facts on women’s and men’s patterns of travel and activity, val- ues, and the transport sector as a workplace. In the report SIKA also has some recommendations to the gov- ernment to strengthen gender equality in the transport system, even though the recommendations on interme- diate objectives mainly have the character of process targets. SIKA also made proposals for future work to establish more detailed intermediate objectives. The SIKA recommendations are as follows: • Planning instructions should be developed for a more secure transport system; • Targets should be set for the proportion of women in different functions in transport agencies and central agencies in the sphere of transport; • Major measures that are planned and imple- mented in the transport system are to be analyzed from a gender-equality perspective, showing the effects on women and men; • A systematic review should be made of the docu- mentation, working methods, and procedures applied throughout the transport sector; • More research should be initiated on typical female and male perspectives and evaluation of transport- related issues; • More female researchers should be encouraged to work within the field of transport research; and • Transport agencies and other authorities should carry out information and training programs to clarify gender-equality issues. Effect of Report on Intermediate Objectives The SIKA report had quite an impact on the Swedish transport sector. It was the first report on gender equal- 1 9 2 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 192

ity in the transport sector after the objective was estab- lished, and the results were presented and discussed in several seminars during fall 2002. The report also resulted in special commissions in the 2003 budget guidelines for transport agencies. A third sentence (shown in italics) was added to the objective when it was formulated to authority-specific objectives: The transport system shall be designed so that it meets both men’s and women’s transport require- ments. Women and men shall have the same oppor- tunities to influence the construction, design and management of the transport system, and their val- ues shall be given equal weight. The objective is an even distribution of power and influence between men and women within every mode of transport. One commission to the transport agencies was to pre- sent the proportion of men and women taking part in working groups and other collaboration groups within or organized by the authority. Another commission was for the transport agencies to analyze men’s and women’s usage and impact on the development and management of the transport system. The analysis should concern travel patterns, travel times, choice of travel mode, travel costs, access to information, and number of killed and seriously injured in the transport sector. The results of the commissions are to be reported in the annual follow-up report of the Swedish transport policy objectives. Effects of Infrastructure Measures for Different Groups of People In 2002 SIKA was instructed by the government to clar- ify how effects of infrastructure measures can be analyzed and presented regarding men, women, and children. The SIKA report to the government was made in March 2003 (SIKA Rapport 2003:5). This commission was also a result from the Gender Equality Council’s final report. The main issue in the SIKA report dealt with an eval- uation of the national transport analysis model system that SIKA and the transport agencies use in long-term infrastructure planning and whether the model system was able to present the effects of infrastructure mea- sures for men and women, different age groups, and dif- ferent income groups. The results were that the model system evens out the dif- ferences between age groups and between men and women when it is used for forecasting, which makes the analysis less distinct. The model system is not developed to present the effects according to different income groups, which is a problem since the value variances between income groups were stated as the most important factor in the analysis of different groups. An explanation for this shortcoming is that the differences in values are not captured in the model system. When it comes to the overall, average results, the model system presents reasonable results. Development of the model system to ensure that the results for different groups are better presented is costly and would take several years. The work would also be a pioneer work since there is no such model system any- where else in the world (SIKA Rapport 2003:5, 4). Follow-Up on Swedish Transport Policy Objectives 2003 The development of the objective of gender equality in the transport system was reported for the first time in the annual follow-up report to the government in May 2003, concerning 2002. The main concern in the report is the lack of data when it comes to the objective of gender equality. The report states that too little knowledge is available to be able to say anything about the develop- ment of gender equality in the previous year. There is a need to acquire more knowledge about what is meant by a transport system with equal opportunities, and there is a need to improve the methods of measuring progress. The report presents the activities by the transport agencies, the current situation in the executive boards and other steering committees according to the number of men and women, and how the travel patterns differ for men and women today. Activities during 2002 included the following: • The National Road Administration (Vägverket) initiated applied research on how a gender equality per- spective affects the road transport system. A strategy was proposed to increase the security aspects concern- ing sexual violence in the road transport system. The agency’s policy and knowledge documents were also investigated from a gender equality perspective. • The National Rail Administration (Banverket) produced a preliminary study on how to integrate the objective of gender equality into the rail administration and the Civil Aviation Administration (Luftfartsverket) studied the proportion of men and women in organiza- tions and companies within the aviation sector. • The Network for Women in Transport Policy (Nätverket för Kvinnor i transportpolitiken) was estab- lished in 2002 to make a contribution to attainment of the gender equality objective.2 The network organizes 1 9 3GENDER EQUALITY AS A SUBSIDIARY OBJECTIVE OF SWEDISH TRANSPORT POLICY 2 This network consists of about 100 members, both men and women, working in all parts of the transport sector and in the whole of Sweden. The network is financed by grants from the National Rail Administration and the National Road Administration and through member fees. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 193

meetings to which decision makers are invited and interviewed about their work toward gender equality in the transport system and at which the members can meet and discuss issues concerning the gender equality objective. 2004 In the SIKA 2004 follow-up report on transport policy objectives to the government, it is stated that the gov- ernment has strengthened the requirements for trans- port agencies to analyze and present the situation concerning men and women in the transport sector (SIKA Rapport 2004:3). There are more commissions in the different budget proposals, the regleringsbrev, to the transport agencies, and the commissions require more thorough analysis. There is still a lack of information, which means that the transport agencies are not able to respond to the requirements yet. Two publications about how to analyze and present statistics from a gender-equality perspective were published during the year, and although men dominate in boards, higher posts, and working groups throughout the entire trans- port sector, the number of women working as head of office or as part of the executive board in transport agencies is slowly increasing. The transport agencies analyzed data on travel pat- terns within the different parts of the transport sector, and understanding of the differences between men’s and women’s travel behavior is increasing, at least in an overall perspective. The transport agencies are also car- rying out different kinds of surveys to present the share of men and women on executive boards and in other decision-making groups. The National Road Administration is the trans- port agency with the largest budget for research and development in the transport sector, and in 2003 the agency financed a study on how women’s experi- ences and values in public transport can be linked to transport system planning and evaluation. Another study financed by the National Road Administration deals with the differences in attitudes between men and women when it comes to the design of the road transport system (Polk 2004b). The National Road Administration also published a report on how to involve more women in the road transport system planning process. The conclusion in the follow-up report is that although more effort is spent in surveys and research concerning gender equality in the transport system, the situation in 2004 is still that women’s perspectives and values are not represented when it comes to planning, decision making, and management of the transport system. WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT Although Swedish transport agencies have started to finance studies and publish reports on gender equality, they still have not grasped the full meaning of a gender equality perspective. This situation is understandable— gender equality is not so easy to explain or to under- stand and a more concrete idea of what gender equality is and how to attain it in the transport system is needed. Everyone involved in the transport sector must know what gender equality is before an equally gendered transport system can be established. In a way, it could be said that a governmental strat- egy to establish an objective of gender equality in the transport system to attain a gender-equal society as a whole, including the transport system, has not been suc- cessful. There is still a dominance of men in the trans- port sector, and most of the decisions concerning planning, designing, or managing the transport system are taken without a proper gender analysis. But after all, the objective of gender equality is a long- term objective, and it has only been an objective for 3 years. If one compares it with the other long-term objec- tives, one could say that the efforts to attain a gender- equal transport system in Sweden are promising. Awareness of gender equality in the transport sector is growing, and there is a change in the approach toward new employees at transport agencies. The number of employees with university degrees in the humanities and social sciences is increasing, whereas the share of engi- neers is decreasing. This development will probably both increase the share of women working at the trans- port agencies and strengthen the possibilities to analyze transport issues with a gender perspective. The government’s next step will most likely be to give SIKA a new commission to work out intermediate objectives for gender equality to attain a transport sys- tem that is designed to meet the needs of both men and women. Establishment of intermediate objectives within the gender equality objective will probably make the objective of gender equality in the transport system more concrete and easier to work toward. REFERENCES Direktiv 1999:83. Kommittédirektiv. Rådet för jämställdhets- frågor som rör transport-och IT-tjänster. Beslut vid regeringssammanträde den 21 oktober 1999. Government decision, 21 October. Government Bill 1997/98:56. Transport Policy for Sustainable Development. Polk, M. 2004a. The Integration of Gender Equality in the Transportation Policy Discourse in Sweden. Kvinder, kön og forskning. 1 9 4 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 194

1 9 5GENDER EQUALITY AS A SUBSIDIARY OBJECTIVE OF SWEDISH TRANSPORT POLICY Polk, M. 2004b. En jämställdhetsanalys över utformningen av vägsystemet I Sverige: Del 1, Redovisning av inter- vjuer med användare. SIKA Rapport 2002:5. Intermediate Objectives for Gender Equality in the Transport System. SIKA, Stockholm, October. SIKA Rapport 2003:5. Follow-Up of the Swedish Transport Policy Objectives. May. SIKA Rapport 2004:3. Follow-Up of the Swedish Transport Policy Objectives. May. SOU 1997:35. Ny kurs i trafikpolitiken: slutbetänkande av Kommunikationskommittén. Swedish Government Official Report, Norstedts Tryckeri AB, Stockholm. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 195

1 9 6 Women’s Travel Can the Circle Be Squared? Barbara Noble, United Kingdom Department for Transport, London During the 1990s, the travel patterns of women in Great Britain exhibited some profound changes. Women of all ages are increasingly likely to hold driver’s licenses and have full access to a car as the main driver. Three- fourths of the increase in car traffic since 1990 can be attributed to women. These changes have been influ- enced by major changes in the employment of women. For many women with children, a car is considered a necessity to help manage home and work responsibili- ties. Women have been able to expand their travel hori- zons, but there may be a cost to bear for society as a whole, with increasing congestion in many urban areas and on interurban roads. Bus service may become less viable, and opportunities for the remaining people who do not own a car may be reduced. Some tentative pro- jections of further changes in car ownership and use by women over the next 10 to 15 years and their effect on traffic are provided. Can what seems to be impossible be achieved—can the circle be squared—so that the lib- eration that the car brings to many women can be enjoyed without the negative effects of increased con- gestion and environmental damage for society as a whole? The Great Britain 1 Department for Transport (DfT) has the overall goal of “transport that works for everyone.” To that end, it works in partnership with others to • Tackle congestion, • Improve accessibility, • Reduce casualties, • Respect the environment, and • Support the economy. It will be demonstrated here how many women have enjoyed improved accessibility as a result of their increased use of cars. Trends in how and why women in different age groups travel are examined, especially for travel to work. Then the effect of women’s increased travel on traffic con- gestion is estimated, and the effect on the other objectives is considered. In conclusion, consideration is given to whether it is possible to square the circle, achieving what seems to be impossible—enjoyment of the liberation that the car brings to many women without the negative effects of increased congestion and environmental damage for society as a whole. SETTING THE SCENE: WOMEN’S CHANGING ACCESS TO CARS In Great Britain, bus use was overtaken by car use in the mid-1950s. Since then car ownership has grown steadily, and many families now consider cars to be a necessity rather than a luxury. Initially, men were more likely to be the sole driver of a single-family car, and the stereotype of a man using the only car for work and leaving other house- hold members to rely on public transport during the day was probably true for much of the second half of the twen- tieth century. By 1990, 23% of households had two or1 Great Britain includes England, Wales, and Scotland. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 196

1 9 7WOMEN’S TRAVEL: CAN THE CIRCLE BE SQUARED? more cars, and this proportion had increased to 29% by 2002. The rise of the second car has mainly benefited women, as will be shown. Data Sources This paper is based mainly on evidence from the long- running British National Travel Survey (NTS), which is described in more detail in the section on data sources at the end of the paper. Driver’s Licenses Diminishing gender differences in car access are clearly shown by considering proportions of people with driv- er’s licenses. In 1975–1976 only 29% of women aged 17 and older and 69% of men held full licenses, a dif- ference of 40 percentage points. A decade later, in 1985–1986, the corresponding figures were 41% of women and 74% of men. The most recent figures for 2002–2003 show 61% of women had full licenses com- pared with 81% of men, a difference of only 20 per- centage points. These trends are shown in more detail for different age groups in Figure 1. There is a strong cohort effect. Until the end of the 1990s, each generation of young women was more likely to be able to drive. Women driv- ers in their middle age moving into retirement have rapidly increased the number of older drivers. However, there remains a much greater disparity between the sexes among drivers over the age of 70, partly because this group contains more very old women than men. A change has recently become apparent, with fewer young people (of both sexes) now holding licenses. Vari- ous reasons have been suggested: driving tests are now more difficult, with the introduction of a theory test in Great Britain; more young people are students and cannot afford cars; and insurance costs are high for drivers under 25. This phenomenon has also been noted elsewhere in Europe (1). It is also noticeable that young women’s levels of driver’s license holding are no longer catching up quite as quickly with men’s levels as in the last few decades of the twentieth century. For example, among those aged 30 to 39 in 2002–2003, there was a difference of 11 per- centage points in driver’s license holding between men (88%) and women (77%). This difference was the same in 1998–2000. Overall, men’s license holding for all ages (17+) appears to have leveled off since the early 1990s at around 80%. It is possible that women’s license holding may also level off when the current cohort effect has worked its way through to the oldest age groups. Another factor slowing the increase in license hold- ing among women may be increasing ethnic diversity. In some minority groups, women are less likely to work and less likely to drive. It will be interesting to monitor employment and car access trends in more recent immi- 0 20 40 60 80 100 Percentage 1975/1976 36 78 85 83 75 58 32 20 43 48 37 24 15 4 1985/1986 37 73 86 87 81 72 51 29 54 62 56 41 24 11 1995/1997 48 79 89 89 88 83 65 36 67 74 74 61 46 22 2002/2003 32 74 88 91 90 86 69 27 62 77 78 71 58 27 17–20 21–29 30–39 40–49 50–59 60–69 70+ 17–20 21–29 30–39 40–49 50–59 60–69 70+ Males Females FIGURE 1 Driver’s license holders by age and sex for various periods. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 197

grant groups as these women become more assimilated within the wider community. It is possible to speculate on the maximum future level of driver’s license holding in Great Britain by look- ing at the situation in the United States. Rather than a comparison of Great Britain with the whole of the United States (which is much more sparsely populated), a more realistic comparison is with New York State.2 In 2001, the maximum level of drivers3 recorded by the U.S. National Household Travel Survey (2) for ages 51 to 60 was 92% for men and 80% for women. These lev- els are only a little higher than those for men (91%) and women (78%) in their forties in Great Britain, which reinforces the view that levels of license holding may not grow much more when the cohort effect noted earlier has worked through completely to the older age groups. Who Drives the Sole Family Car? In the British NTS, the person who drives the most mileage in each car is designated the main driver of that car. Usually, a two-car household will have two main drivers, and so on. The personal access to a car of each household member is classified as main driver, other driver, nondriver in a household with a car, and no household car. Figure 2 shows the changes in personal car access during the last decade. The proportion of women who are main drivers has increased from 31% to 45%. In contrast, for men this proportion has stayed at 64%. Interestingly, for men the proportion of other drivers has increased. Two different trends have increased car availability for women. The first, as noted earlier, is the increase in households with two or more cars. The second, illus- trated in Table 1, is more interesting, showing increased access to cars even in one-car households. In single-car households in 2002–2003, with two or more adults (Table 1), 65% of men are main drivers, rather more than twice the proportion of women (27%). A decade ago, the ratio was closer to four to one: 72% of men in these single-car households were main drivers but only 19% of women. However, many women in single-car households (often pensioner households) are still nondrivers, although this proportion is declining. In households with two or more cars, about 80% of women were main drivers in 2002–2003, which shows clearly how women benefit from the second household car. This proportion also increased considerably during the 1990s. Economic Activity Figure 3 shows that differences in economic activity are one of the main reasons for the remaining differences between personal car access. There is much less difference in car access between men and women who are working full time—71% of men and 64% of women were main drivers in 2002–2003; 58% of women working part time were also main drivers. The main differences between men and women were among those who were retired or permanently sick, where less than a fourth of women were main drivers. This dif- ference is likely to be because many retired women have never held a driver’s license, and car availability is lower in such households. Employment Changes According to the Office for National Statistics Labor Market Trends, between 1992 and 2002 there were increases of 11% in the number of women working both full time and part time. For men, the increase in full time workers was only 2%, but an increase of 46% in part- time male workers (from a low base) gave an overall increase of 5% in the number of working men. Single Mothers Single mothers are even less likely to have access to cars than the average adult woman, but their car access has improved considerably. At the beginning of the 1990s, only one-fourth had a car, but this proportion had increased to nearly a half by 2002–2003. It should also be noted that single mothers as a proportion of women aged 17+ in the NTS sample increased from 3% to 5% during this period. In contrast to a slight decline of 4% in the average number of trips made by women overall (see section on trends in women’s travel), the number of trips by single mothers increased by 6%. During this period there was a strong shift from trips on foot (reduced from 45% to 36%) and by bus (from 13% to 9%) to trips as car driv- ers (up from 25% to 42%). It is likely that single moth- ers, who are likely to have particular problems juggling 1 9 8 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION 2 This comparison was suggested by an American colleague, since it is an area with a geographic distribution of population more similar to that in Great Britain than the United States as a whole. Overall, in 2002 the population density of Great Britain was 650 persons per square mile, eight times higher than that of the United States (80 per- sons per square mile). For New York State, the density was about 380 persons per square mile. 3 It should be noted that the question asked is slightly different. In Great Britain, respondents are asked if they have a license; in the United States they are asked if they are drivers, which may therefore include unlicensed drivers. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 198

1 9 9WOMEN’S TRAVEL: CAN THE CIRCLE BE SQUARED? child care and work responsibilities, have benefited con- siderably from increased car access. Increased Car Access Improving Overall Accessibility The trends in better car access for women shown in this section reflect the changing role of women in society. Men are less likely than before to dominate the use of the car in single-car households, and many more women have sole use of their own car because of the increase in households with two or more cars. Women may gain use of a car for a specific purpose, such as to drive to work or take children to school, but once they have car access, they are able to enjoy the freedom of their own transport to make a wide variety of trips, including social and leisure trips. TRENDS IN WOMEN’S TRAVEL Number of Trips Figure 44 shows the trends in index form in the average number of trips made by women and men (all ages) from 1990 to 2002 for selected modes. The total num- ber of trips made by women fell by 4% during this period, but there was a 30% increase in the number of 0 20 40 60 80 Percentage Main driver 64 64 31 45 Other driver 9 13 15 13 Nondriver 6 7 24 18 No household car 21 16 30 24 Male 1989/91 Male 2002/3 Female 1989/91 Female 2002/3 FIGURE 2 Personal access to cars by sex: 1989–1991 and 2002–2003, age 17+. TABLE 1 Percentage of Personal Car Access by Availability: 1989–1991 and 2002–2003 Male Female Main Other Nondriver/ Main Other Nondriver/ Driver Driver No Car Total Driver Driver No Car Total 2002/2003 No cars 0 0 100 100 0 0 100 100 One car 65 22 13 100 27 30 43 100 Two cars 82 13 5 100 79 9 12 100 Three or more cars 82 11 6 100 81 9 10 100 All persons 65 15 20 100 47 17 36 100 1989/1991 No cars 0 0 100 100 0 0 100 100 One car 72 18 11 100 19 30 51 100 Two cars 89 5 5 100 68 13 18 100 Three or more cars 90 6 5 100 76 10 14 100 All persons 65 10 24 100 32 18 49 100 Note: Age 17+, households with two or more adults. 4 Data are 3-year moving averages. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 199

2 0 0 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION trips women made as car drivers. In contrast, the total number of trips made by men fell by 11%, including a fall of 7% in the number of trips made by male car driv- ers. There were declines of more than 20% in trips on foot for both men and women and by women on “other” modes (mostly bus, but also some cycling and rail trips). Figure 5 shows trips by age, gender, and main mode of travel in 2002–2003. Women in their thirties, who are most likely to be combining work with family responsibilities, make nearly 20% more trips than men. This proportion reduces to 10% for women in their for- ties as family responsibilities diminish. From the age of 50, men make more trips than women. In spite of the recent increases in car availability, on average women still make fewer trips as car drivers and more on foot, by bus, and as car passengers. There is lit- tle difference in the mode split for young men and women (aged less than 17), but the disparity increases with age, and for those over 70 about half of men’s trips are as car drivers compared with only one in five of women’s trips. Trip Length and Total Distance Traveled The length of trips made by women increased by about 18% in the 1990s with a shift to car driver trips and an 0 20 40 60 80 Main driver 64 71 59 59 38 45 64 58 23 34 Other driver 13 16 11 8 9 13 13 14 13 12 Nondriver 7 5 14 5 12 18 11 17 21 24 No household car 16 8 16 28 42 24 11 10 43 30 Total Full time Part time Retired & perm. sick Home/ other Total Full time Part time Retired & perm. sick Home/ other Percentage Males Females FIGURE 3 Personal access to cars by sex (age 17+) and selected economic status: 2002–2003. 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Car driver Walk Car passenger Other (mostly bus) 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 Index: 1990 = 100 Index: 1990 = 100 Car driver Car passenger Walk Other (mostly bus) (a) (b) FIGURE 4 Trends in trips, 1990–2002: (a) males; (b) females. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 200

2 0 1WOMEN’S TRAVEL: CAN THE CIRCLE BE SQUARED? increase of 13% in lengths of these car driver trips. Overall, men’s trip lengths increased a little less (17%), although this difference was accounted for more by pub- lic transport trips (up 21%) than by the increasing length of car trips (up 11%). Increasing trip lengths have led to an increase in the total distance traveled. Together with the increasing car use by women, this growth led to a huge increase of almost a half during the 1990s in the distance traveled by women as car drivers (averaged over all women), from just under 1,500 mi per person per year in 1989–1991 to nearly 2,200 mi in 2002–2003. Women still tend to make more local, shorter trips than men. For example, about a fourth of trips made by male car drivers are more than 10 mi but only one in six for women. Interestingly, the average length of trips made by a female car driver is shorter than that for trips as a passenger. In 2002–2003 these trip lengths were 6.5 and 9.1 mi long, respectively. The reverse is true for men, with equivalent trip lengths of 10.3 and 8.9 mi. These differences can be accounted for by the type of trips women make as car drivers, with fewer long busi- ness trips and more shorter shopping and escort trips (see section on why women travel). Bus Travel During the 1990s, the number of bus journeys made by men declined by less than 2%, but for women the decline was nearly 17%. Since women made nearly two- thirds (63%) of the bus trips in 1989–1991, this finding implies that about 95% of the decrease in bus use can be accounted for by women. Some bus services are of mar- ginal profitability, and continued increases in women’s car travel may lead to reductions in bus availability for women who do not have access to cars, especially older women and single parents. 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 <17 17–20 21–29 30–39 40–49 50–59 60–69 70+ Tr ip s pe r p er so n pe r y ea r Tr ip s pe r p er so n pe r y ea r Walk Car driver Car passenger Bus and coach Other 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 <17 17–20 21–29 30–39 40–49 50–59 60–69 70+ Walk Car driver Car passenger Bus and coach Other (a) (b) FIGURE 5 Trips by main mode and age: (a) males, 2002–2003; (b) females, 2002–2003. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 201

2 0 2 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION WHY WOMEN TRAVEL Trip purposes mirror how people spend their time, and women’s different social and family responsibilities are clearly reflected in their travel patterns. In broad terms, women’s travel can be divided into three main cate- gories, which account for roughly equal numbers of trips overall: • Compulsory trips, covering work, education, and escort trips (not made for an individual’s own purposes but to take or accompany someone else); • Shopping and personal business trips, including trips to the bank, library, or doctor; and • Discretionary trips, including visiting friends, watching or participating in a sport, and going on day trips or on holiday. Figure 6 gives details of why men and women travel for different age groups in the broadly defined groups of trips but separating out escort trips. Up to the age of 17, differences in travel purpose by gender are slight, but they become more noticeable for young people aged 17 to 20. Women make a greater proportion of shopping trips and are more likely to visit friends in their homes than are men. Men make a greater proportion of com- muting and business trips. These differences persist through all age groups. By the time women reach their twenties, escort edu- cation trips (taking children to school) are becoming more apparent, and together with general escort trips, these account for over a fourth of all trips for women in their thirties. This age group of women also makes the smallest proportion of commuting trips among those of working ages. Trips to visit friends tend to decline for both women and men aged between 21 and 49 and increase again in their fifties. Once women are in their fifties, they are less likely to be juggling family and work responsibilities and make fewer trips than men. In particular, the number of escort 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 <17 17–20 21–29 30–39 40–49 50–59 60–69 70+ Work/education Escort Shopping/personal business Leisure 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 <17 17–20 21–29 30–39 40–49 50–59 60–69 70+ Work/education Escort Shopping/personal business Leisure Tr ip s pe r p er so n pe r y ea r Tr ip s pe r p er so n pe r y ea r (a) (b) FIGURE 6 Trips by purpose and age: (a) males, 2002–2003; (b) females, 2002–2003. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 202

trips declines considerably. For both men and women 60 and over, shopping, personal business, and visiting friends are the main trip purposes, and the trip patterns of men and women become increasingly similar at older ages. The average trip length for women is about 6 mi, a fourth less than that for men (8 mi). This difference is mainly accounted for by work and business trips, which are considerably longer for men than for women and also account for a greater proportion of all trips. For most other purposes, men’s trips are only slightly longer than women’s. TRAVEL TO WORK It is particularly interesting to look at patterns of work travel, since these illustrate women’s changing economic position in society. In addition to the NTS, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and decennial censuses provide data on travel to work, and the larger samples enable more detailed analysis. Changes in Distance and Method of Travel Changes in distance5 traveled to work by women are evident from census data for England and Wales (Table 2). There has been a decrease in short trips of less than 2 km, from 34% to 28%, although this is still the most frequent trip length. In contrast, trips of more than 10 km have increased from 19% to 26% of all trips. These changes are partly the result of the increase in the proportion of car trips (up from 46% to 55%) and partly the result of the increasing length of trips by all modes, including the car. It is not possible to identify why women now travel farther to work, but it is likely that greater car availability has allowed women to seek opportunities for better work farther from home or, conversely, that traveling farther to higher-paid work has allowed more women to buy cars. In addition, motoring costs have risen less than average earnings in recent years. The same distance change is less apparent for men. The proportion of trips less than 2 km was almost the same in 1991 and 2001 (about 20%), with a slight decrease in intermediate-length trips and an increase in trips over 10 km from 34% to 39%. Women are still much less likely to make long trips (over 40 km) to work, accounting for only 3% of women’s trips in 2001 compared with 8% of men’s trips. The increase in car travel to work from 1991 to 2001 shown in Table 2 has been at the expense of travel on foot (down from 18% to 15%) and travel by bus (down from 15% to 11%). Travel to Work by Ethnic Group Table 3 shows the differences in travel to work for selected ethnic groups, using data from the LFS. Two- thirds of white women usually traveled to work by car, mostly as car drivers. The corresponding proportions for the Asian and black groups were just over a half and a third, respectively. However, it should be noted that ethnic minority populations are concentrated in large urban areas, where fewer people in general travel to work by car. For both whites and blacks (which included black/mixed in 1992), there have been increases of about five percentage points in the proportion of car drivers from 1992 to 2002. In contrast, there has been little change in the proportion of Asian women traveling by car, which has remained at about a half. EFFECTS OF WOMEN’S INCREASING TRAVEL ON CAR TRAFFIC It has been shown how women’s increased access to cars has changed their travel patterns. Many (but not all) women have improved accessibility to the full range of work, shopping, health, and leisure opportunities. Some of the consequences of women’s increasing car travel on other objectives of transport in Great Britain are dis- cussed next. Table 4 shows simple estimates6 of the car traffic gen- erated by men and women during the period 1990–2002, when the distance traveled in cars by women grew by 50% compared with 6% for men. Three-fourths of the car traffic growth from 1990 to 2002 is estimated to be attributable to the increase in travel by women driving cars. Increasing road traffic, leading to congestion and poor air quality, is a significant problem in parts of Great Britain, especially in urban areas during peak hours. The press is inclined to blame the “school run,” which is mostly still done by women, for some of this 2 0 3WOMEN’S TRAVEL: CAN THE CIRCLE BE SQUARED? 5 These distances are the direct or as-the-crow-flies distances between the usual residence and workplace. Actual distances are far- ther. These data are only available in kilometer bands: 1 km is approximately 0.6 mi. 6 Data are 3-year moving averages of car driver distances from the NTS, which is a household survey, grossed to the full population. This is an overestimate since people not in households are likely to make fewer trips as car drivers. These data are balanced (to an unknown extent), since no allowance has been made for trips made by non-British residents. Grossed NTS data are grossed again to allow for underrecording, and so on, by about 16%, to the Great Britain Traffic Census. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 203

2 0 4 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION problem. In reality at the peak time of 8:50 a.m., less than 20% of urban traffic in the school year is caused by parents taking children to school by car (3) and only 12% overall during the peak hour from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. Peak-hour travel is still dominated by work trips. In addition to problems of congestion, it is known (4) that in Great Britain traffic contributes an increased share of CO2 emissions, a greenhouse gas that many sci- entists consider to be associated with global warming. Women’s average car mileage is still well below that of men (see section on trends in women’s travel), and women are also likely to drive smaller cars than men, with lower emission levels, so it is certainly true that the greater share of emissions is currently attributable to men, but the balance is changing. FUTURE EFFECTS OF WOMEN’S INCREASED CAR TRAVEL Formal, modeled projections of car travel are not attempted here. These projections require consideration of economic trends (such as employment), demographic trends (including household formation and its effect on car ownership), and trends in driver’s license holding and trip lengths. However, some previous tentative pro- jections of driver’s license holding among older people (5) are updated in Table 5 by using updated official pop- ulation projections for 20157 and adding some assump- tions about license holding at younger ages: • Cohort effects will have worked their way through to older ages, so license holding among women in their seventies will increase considerably (almost certain); • License holding for those in their forties and fifties will have reached a ceiling, suggested by current levels in New York State (possible, see section on setting the scene); • Women will continue to have lower levels of license holding than men (likely); and • Young people will start driving rather later than in the early 1990s (as current trend). The data in Table 5 imply an increase of about 19% by 2015 in the number of women holding driver’s licenses compared with about 8% for men. Official estimates from the National Transport Model (6) suggest total traffic growth of 22.5% from 2002 to 2015. Table 4 shows that the ratio of car traffic from men to that from women is declining, partly caused by the increase in the number of women drivers and partly by the TABLE 2 Percentage of Travel to Work by Women: England and Wales, 1991–2001 With Fixed Workplace Away from Home 2 km to 5 km to 10 km to 20 km to 30 km to 40 km Mode of Less Than Less Than Less Than Less Than Less Than Less Than and Transport 2 km 5 km 10 km 20 km 30 km 40 km Over Total 1991 All modes (inc. other) 100 34 27 20 13 3 1 2 100 Walk 18 90 6 1 1 0 0 1 100 Bicycle 3 67 25 5 1 1 0 1 100 Car driver 46 21 29 25 17 5 2 2 100 Car passenger 11 27 36 22 11 3 1 1 100 Bus and coach 15 19 48 24 7 1 0 1 100 Rail 6 2 10 26 37 10 4 11 100 2001 All modes (inc. other) 100 28 25 21 16 5 2 3 100 Walk 15 84 9 3 2 1 — 1 100 Bicycle 2 56 29 9 3 1 — 1 100 Car driver 55 19 26 24 19 6 2 3 100 Car passenger 8 26 34 21 12 3 1 2 100 Bus and coach 11 16 45 26 9 2 1 2 100 Rail 7 3 11 28 34 10 4 10 100 TABLE 3 Percentage of Usual Means of Travel to Work for Selected Ethnic Groups: LFS 2002 Asian Black or Asian or Black All White British British People Males All car 76 65 52 75 Car driver 65 57 47 64 Car other1 11 9 4 10 Public transport 11 23 41 12 Walk 7 11 5 7 Other 7 1 2 6 Total 100 100 100 100 Females All car 67 51 35 66 Car driver 55 38 29 54 Car other1 13 13 6 12 Public transport 16 31 54 17 Walk 15 17 10 15 Other 2 1 1 2 Total 100 100 100 100 1 Car passenger, or sometimes as driver and sometimes as passenger. 7 U.K. Government Actuary’s Department 2002-based population projections for Great Britain by age and sex (available from www.gad.gov.uk). 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 204

2 0 5WOMEN’S TRAVEL: CAN THE CIRCLE BE SQUARED? increase in the distance traveled by women car drivers. This ratio will continue to fall, though probably more slowly, perhaps to about 1.8 by 2015. Using this ratio to factor traffic growth between men and women suggests a growth of about 39% in women’s car traffic to 2015, which in turn implies a growth of about 17% in average trip lengths for women. Again, it should be stressed these are not official projections. The extent of this growth is not known, but there is little doubt that future growth in traffic to 2015 will be dominated by growth in women’s travel, as it has been through the 1990s. ROAD ACCIDENTS The overall trend during the last 30 years in Great Britain has been a steady fall in the overall number of killed or seriously injured (KSI) road casualties. How- ever, as Figure 7 shows, in the late 1980s the number of female car driver KSI casualties was increasing. It was fairly steady during the 1990s but has fallen fairly sharply since about 1997. These trends have to be set against the increasing dis- tance traveled by women as car drivers, shown in Figure 4. It is not surprising that the number of casualties increased at a time when car mileage was increasing rapidly. It is more surprising that casualties have fallen in more recent years in spite of the continuing increase in car mileage by women. Figure 88 shows the steady fall in female casualty rates per billion miles traveled. At the beginning of the TABLE 4 Contribution of Women’s Travel to Traffic in Great Britain: 1990–2002 Total Car Driver Car Distance Population Distance Ratio Male: Percentage Change in Total pppy (miles) (Millions) Traveled1 (bn miles) Female Distance Since 1990 Male Female Male Female Male Female Distance Male Female 1990 4,822 1,498 27.0 28.6 156 51 3.04 – – 1991 4,855 1,592 27.1 28.7 155 54 2.88 –1 5 1992 4,815 1,668 27.2 28.8 153 56 2.73 –2 9 1993 4,869 1,683 27.2 28.8 155 57 2.73 –1 10 1994 4,904 1,772 27.3 28.9 155 59 2.61 –1 15 1995 5,063 1,788 27.3 29.0 159 60 2.67 2 16 1996 5,089 1,871 27.4 29.0 160 63 2.57 3 22 1997 5,135 1,972 27.4 29.1 161 66 2.46 3 28 1998 5,110 2,055 27.5 29.1 162 69 2.35 4 34 1999 5,145 2,103 27.6 29.2 163 70 2.31 4 37 2000 5,114 2,098 27.8 29.3 164 71 2.31 5 39 2001 5,053 2,197 27.9 29.4 164 75 2.19 5 46 2002 4,976 2,217 28.1 29.5 165 77 2.14 6 50 All male female Total traffic growth 1990–2002 (bn km) 34 9 26 Percentage growth attributable: 100 25 75 Note: pppy = per person per year. 1 Grossed to total traffic figures. TABLE 5 Tentative Projections of License Holding to 2015 % License Holders Population (Thousands) License Holders (Thousands) Males Females Males Females Males Females Total 17–20 35 30 1,455 1,402 509 421 930 21–29 75 65 3,645 3,626 2,734 2,357 5,091 30–39 85 75 3,737 3,880 3,176 2,910 6,086 40–49 90 80 4,138 4,261 3,724 3,409 7,133 50–59 90 80 3,972 4,107 3,575 3,286 6,860 60–69 80 70 3,321 3,532 2,657 2,472 5,129 70–79 89 65 2,232 2,553 1,986 1,659 3,646 80–89 65 35 1,013 1,476 658 517 1,175 90+ 20 10 173 385 35 39 73 Total age 17+ (2015) 23,685 25,222 19,054 17,068 36,123 Total age 17+ (2002) 21,883 23,550 17,670 14,399 32,069 % change 2002–2015 8 7 8 19 13 8Figure 8 data are 3-year moving averages. It should be noted that no allowance was made in this section for underrecording of distance in the NTS, so rates are likely to be a little higher than shown. This dif- ference is unlikely to have any significant effect on trends over time. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 205

2 0 6 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION 1990s, rates were about a third higher among women than among men, but in recent years rates have become very close. It is not within the scope of this paper to investigate the reasons for these trends in KSI rates, but it has been speculated that they may be affected by the following: • Risk of injury to the driver, which changes with the size of car driven (7): In an accident between a large vehicle and a small one, the occupants of the smaller vehicle are more likely to be injured. Gender differences in the use of size and age of vehicles may be decreasing. Newer vehicles also have more safety features than older ones. • Change in the age distribution of female drivers: In the earlier years, there was a higher proportion of young drivers among the female driving population (see Figure 1). An increase in older and more experienced women drivers may mean a reduction in risk. • Differential accident rates dependent on the type of roads used and the times of day: If women’s travel patterns are becoming closer to those of men, this fact may reduce the difference in casualty rates. Table 6 shows data in more detail, including KSI pedestrian casualty rates, averaged over the years 1989–1991and 2002–2003. In addition to the fall in car driver KSI rates for both men and women, there have also been decreases in pedestrian rates. Pedestrian KSI rates per mile are considerably higher than car driver rates, so women are safer in their cars than on foot. The difference in these rates is, however, a little misleading since car trips are longer than those on foot. There is much less difference between car and pedestrian accident rates per trip, though rates per trip are still higher. CAN THE CIRCLE BE SQUARED? Increasing traffic is recognized as a significant problem in Great Britain. Many urban areas and major interur- ban roads are congested at peak periods and in some cases throughout the day. This congestion leads to slow and unreliable journeys, both by car and by bus, and environmental problems such as increased CO2 emis- sions, poorer air quality, and noise. Building new roads is not usually an option in congested urban areas and has become increasingly contentious in other areas. Great Britain has a population density of 650 people per square mile—the third highest in Europe after the Netherlands (997) and Belgium (872). High population density in major urban areas means that many services are available nearby and provides sufficient critical mass to enable the provision of reasonably cost-effective public transport. As has been shown, much of the increase in traffic during the 1990s was the result of women’s being more likely to have the use of a car and also driving longer distances on average for each car trip. It is not possible to turn the clock back. Car avail- ability has widened the horizons of many women. Being able to travel faster by car has enabled working mothers 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Index: 1985 = 100 Female Car Driver Male Car Driver Male Pedestrian Female Pedestrian FIGURE 7 KSI car driver and pedestrian casualties by sex: 1985–2002 (age 17+). 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 206

2 0 7WOMEN’S TRAVEL: CAN THE CIRCLE BE SQUARED? to have time to juggle family and work responsibilities. Many women are no longer restricted to local jobs, where opportunities are limited and wages may be low. Being able to drive to work removes many of the con- straints of time and availability of public transport and enables women to fit in other tasks on the way to and from work, such as dropping children at school and doing the shopping. Once women have become used to the convenience of car access, they are unlikely to stop driving simply because they reach retirement age. However, society as a whole suffers from increased traffic, and society as a whole needs to make the best use of limited road space. There is no magic solution, but there are numerous initiatives that aim to make a differ- ence. Informal networks of mothers taking turns to escort children to school have existed for many years; “walking buses” are now popular, in which larger groups of children are escorted safely to school on foot in organized groups. Employers are encouraged to set up workplace car-sharing schemes, though these may be less attractive to women who need to trip-chain to cope with family responsibilities. The online organization in Great Britain that arranges car sharing (www.liftshare.org) has about 70,000 members, of which 56% are men. Many families themselves, sometimes with the help of personalized journey planning, look more critically at 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 KSI casualties per bn miles Male Female FIGURE 8 Car driver KSI casualty rates: Great Britain, 1991–2002 (age 17+). TABLE 6 KSI Casualty Rates Age 17+ Male Female Pedestrian Car Driver Pedestrian Car Driver 1989/91 Distance (miles pppy) 192 6,302 189 1,905 Total distance per year (bn miles) 4.0 132 4.3 43 KSI per year 5,933 11,451 4,482 5,173 KSI per bn miles 1,476 87 1,039 119 2002/03 Distance 150 6,474 168 2,809 Total distance per year (bn miles) 3.3 142 4.0 66 KSI per year 3,273 7,737 2,080 3,574 KSI per bn miles 992 54 524 54 % change 1989/91–2002/03 KSI per year –45 –32 –54 –31 KSI per bn miles –33 –37 –50 –55 Note: pppy = per person per year; KSI = killed or seriously injured. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 207

their own travel to make the best use of the limited resources available. As has been seen, stereotypes are gradually being overturned, and women are more likely to have the main use of a single-family car. Considerable efforts are being made in some areas to ensure that buses are more attractive to all users, and these areas have increasing patronage among both men and women. It was recognized in the 2004 Feasibility Study of Road Pricing in the UK (8) that in the longer term, road user charging may be needed to ease the problem of Britain’s congested roads. Households are then likely to start to consider the economic aspects of car use more carefully. If the fixed annual license fee for driving a car is replaced by more variable charging, women’s cars, with their lower annual mileage, are likely to become a little cheaper to run. There will be a number of chal- lenges to face in devising a fair scheme for both men and women, but as the study suggests, “Road pricing could be designed to provide . . . positive benefits for women, who are still less likely to have access to cars.” These benefits include the following: • Encouraging a vibrant car-sharing market, which could have a large positive impact on both women from ethnic minority communities and young people, who are heavily reliant on rides; and • Providing further revenue support for buses (or taxis) and making bus journeys more frequent and reli- able, which would increase the number of people using public transport and help sustain services and address fears for personal safety on underused services. There is no single solution to the transport problems faced in Great Britain. Women’s travel will continue to grow faster than men’s travel in the foreseeable future. The economy as a whole should benefit from women’s increased mobility, but a wide-ranging menu of solutions will be needed to minimize the impacts that increasing traffic would have on congestion and the environment. Both men and women need to take responsibility for their contribution, make smart use of their cars, and use other options when these are available. In terms of the DfT goals mentioned in the introduc- tion, the continuing increase in women’s travel by car will have the following effects: • It will increase accessibility for many women. However, this increased accessibility may have the effect of reducing accessibility for those who still do not have access to a car if bus service becomes less feasible and more services move to places only accessible by car, such as out-of-town shopping centers. • It will help support the economy since more women will be enabled to contribute fully by working; however, increased traffic congestion is detrimental to the economy. • It will not help to tackle congestion since it has been shown that the majority of recent increases in traffic can be attributed to increased car travel by women. • It will not respect the environment since increased car travel is associated with a range of environmental problems. • It may help to reduce casualties since women are safer as car drivers than as pedestrians, although again, increasing traffic may eventually lead to more casualties overall. • As mathematicians proved in the 19th century, it is not possible to literally “square the circle.”9 Neither is it possible to absorb the inevitable future growth in women’s travel by car in Great Britain without any con- sequences being suffered. All drivers, especially men who still drive further and more often than women, need to consider the effect of their travel on society and the environment as a whole. DATA SOURCES AND GLOSSARY Data from the LFS and the 2001 census are available from the Office for National Statistics at www.statistics.gov.uk. DfT publications are available at www.dft.gov.uk. National Travel Survey Most data in this paper are from the NTS, which has run continuously since 1989, after earlier ad hoc sur- veys. Background demographic and transport-related information is collected by face-to-face interviews with a representative sample of households. All household members are then requested to complete detailed travel diaries for 7 days. Parents complete diaries for children. Travel distances are generally collected and reported in miles. Only travel within Great Britain is recorded. The number of fully responding households in 2003 was about 8,300 (19,500 people), with a response rate of 60%. In common with most social surveys, it is known that the NTS tends to be less representative of some popula- tion groups, such as young men, older people, and peo- ple living in major cities, especially London. Data are not currently weighted although, given its special travel characteristics, the London sample is boosted to allow for poorer response. In addition, the special demands of the NTS mean that larger households, and particularly busy people, are also likely to be underrepresented. The most recent bulletin is based on 2003 data (9), and a technical report 2 0 8 RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S ISSUES IN TRANSPORTATION 9 A Google search will reveal many websites with a discussion of the meaning of squaring the circle. One simple reference is at www. randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19980904. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 208

2 0 9WOMEN’S TRAVEL: CAN THE CIRCLE BE SQUARED? (10) is available. A more in-depth publication (11) with 2002–2003 data (as in this paper) is also available. LFS Since 1992, data on usual mode of travel and the time taken to travel to work have also been available from the larger LFS in the autumn quarter. An extra question was added in 1996, allowing the car category to be split among car driver, car passenger, and sometimes driver and sometimes passenger. The larger sample size (about 55,000 responding households per quarter) allows analysis in more detail than is possible using the NTS, for example, by broad ethnic group. Population Census The decennial population census was last held in 2001. Data are available on household car ownership and on usual mode of travel to work (splitting car into driver and passenger). The questions asked in Scotland were slightly different from those asked in England and Wales, so results are not comparable. Since the census also asks for workplace address, it is possible to calculate the direct, or as-the-crow-flies, distance (in kilometers only) between work and home. It should be noted that some distances for walk trips are implausible. This fault could be caused by data errors or could be the result of people traveling to work from a different address from their usual (census) address, such as those who have a second home close to work in addition to their main residence. Road Accidents Detailed information on road accidents in Great Britain is collected by the police on common STATS19 forms. These are collated and published annually by DfT (12). Data have been collected in a similar format since the late 1970s, and reporting rates are considered high for serious accidents. Glossary Escort trips are when the main purpose of the trip is to take or accompany another person. These trips are known in the United States as “serve passenger” trips. Escort education trips are mainly to drop or collect children at or from school. A trip is a one-way course of travel with a single pur- pose. Thus dropping a child at school on the way to work counts as two trips, with separate purposes of escort edu- cation and work. Minor stops—for example, to pick up a newspaper when walking to the station—are ignored. The main mode of a trip is the means of transport used for the greater part of the distance. In this paper “bus” covers local bus trips (known as “transit” in the United States) and also a small propor- tion of longer-distance bus or coach trips. “Rail” covers heavy rail and also trips on the London Underground system but not on modern light-rail (tram) systems. Light rail is included in the “other” category, which includes flights within Great Britain. REFERENCES 1. Hjorthol, R. J. Gendered Aspects of Travel Behaviour Development: Are the Differences Disappearing? Proc., Association of European Transport, 2003. 2. 2001 National Household Travel Survey. U.S. Depart- ment of Transportation, 2001. nhts.ornl.gov/2001/ index.shtml. 3. National Travel Survey: 2002. Department for Trans- port, London, 2004. 4. Greenhouse Gas Emission. In Transport Trends: 2004 Edition, Section 8.4, Department for Transport, Lon- don, 2004. 5. Noble, B. Travel Characteristics of Older People. In Transport Trends: 2000 Edition, Department for Trans- port, London, 2000. 6. National Road Traffic Forecasts (Great Britain). Department for Transport, London, 1997. 7. Thomas, P., and R. Frampton. Large and Small Cars in Real-World Crashes: Patterns of Use, Collision Types and injury Outcomes. In Proc., 43rd Annual Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, AAAM, Barrington, Ill., 1999, pp. 101–118. 8. Feasibility Study of Road Pricing in the UK. Depart- ment for Transport, London, 2004, Annex E: Social Exclusion Issues. 9. National Travel Survey: 2003 Provisional Results. Department for Transport, London, 2004. 10. Stratford, N., N. Simmonds, G. Nicolaas, and P. Costi- gan. National Travel Survey 2002 Technical Report. National Centre for Social Research, London, 2003. 11. Focus on Personal Travel: 2005 Edition. Department for Transport, London, 2005. 12. Road Casualties Great Britain 2003. Department for Transport, London, 2004. The views expressed are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent DfT policy. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 209

2 1 0 Integrating Gender into the Dhaka, Bangladesh, Urban Transport Project Impact of Road Improvement Strategies on Women Salma Chaudhuri Zohir, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies The results of a study that examined transporta-tion improvement strategies for a major urbanhighway corridor in Dhaka, Bangladesh, are pre- sented. In particular, the study focused on the impacts of different improvement strategies on transit passen- gers and rickshaw pullers. The primary focus of the road improvement strategy was to reduce congestion by restricting nonmotorized transport modes (such as rickshaws), which were a major part of the travel flow in the corridor. A survey was used to collect informa- tion from a variety of affected users of the road corri- dor, including students, workers, and residents. A smaller sample of stakeholders was interviewed on the merits of nonmotorized transport strategies in a road corridor similar to the one studied. The impacts of road improvement strategies on women were a particular focus of this research. Given the new restrictions on nonmotorized transport, travel behavior has changed. For example, women who formerly were not comfort- able using public transit for cultural reasons were now forced to use local bus service. In response, some tran- sit services have been established for women only. Rick- shaw travel times have increased dramatically given new routes that bypass the urban highway. Many of those interviewed concluded that although congestion on the major road has declined, the road improvement strategies have had a negative impact on women, espe- cially those in low- and middle-income groups, who find it extremely difficult to ride overcrowded local buses during peak hours. The study recommended that a women and family bus service be implemented that would meet the cultural challenges facing public trans- port. In addition, new proposals to ban nonmotorized travel (i.e., rickshaws) on other major roads in Dhaka should be assessed not only from the perspective of reducing congestion but also with an understanding of the cultural and equity impacts on different groups of society. It is recommended that nonmotorized trans- port considerations be integrated into urban road cor- ridor planning and that, given the use of such transport by women, there be a substantial gender component to such considerations. Abstract prepared by Michael D. Meyer, Georgia Insti- tute of Technology. 98709mvpTxt 155_210 9/20/05 5:42 PM Page 210

P R O C E E D IN G S 3 5 R esearch on W om en’s Issues in T ransportation— V olum e 2: Technical Papers C O N F E R E N C E P R O C E E D I N G S 3 5 ISBN 0-309-09394-5 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 www.TRB.org ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Research on Women’s Issues in Transportation VOLUME 2: TECHNICAL PAPERS Report of a Conference 98709mvpCovB.indd 1 9/20/05 4:14:42 PM