Seminar Series1: Gender, transport and information communication in the developed world.

Week 10: Measuring and modifying the relationship between gender and transport: the role of new information communication technologies.

This seminar will explore the role new information communication technologies can play in measuring and modifying the relationship between gender and transport to produce and afford greater social equity in mobility.

The key reading is:

http://www.boell.org/docs/gender.pdf

This reading under the heading of "gender and transport" provides a summary of measures to be taken to correct existing inequities. These are:

1) Environment and sustainability issues as well as gender perspectives need be fully integrated into all transport related policy-making in all departments at all levels on a regular and pro-active basis.

2) The definition and understanding of mobility need to be revised aiming to reflect women's lives and responsibilities � i.e. diverse patterns of a multitude of tasks and related trips such as transporting loads for sale; accompanying children and elderly, etc. � and enable authorities to design appropriate transport systems.

3) In general, measures are necessary which reduce transport burdens and transport expenditures of women and men while creating equitable access and ensuring women's increased opportunities and participation.

4) All transport system development must be informed by the lived experience of women; governments should integrate experts on gender-sensitive transport system planning and decision-making in their planning structures.

5) Gender Impact Assessments (GIAs) should be integrated into EIAs which would contribute to creating Sustainability Impact Assessments. Sustainability Audits should include Gender Audits addressing the androcentric perspectives reflected in current policies (prioritising men's lives and needs) and Caring Economy Audits.

6) Gender budget analyses are an important tool of engendering macro-economic analysis; they should be conducted to provide information about how much women- & men-power, institutional and financial resources, and research funding goes into furthering women�s vs. men's interests regarding transport. 8) Governments should introduce participatory, inclusive transport planning methodologies in order to be able to incorporate the social / gender divide of transport and travel needs.

9) Governments should commit to guarantee sustainable, gender-sensitive transport systems. If privatisation is an option, governments have to define appropriate conditions.

10) Governments, donor agencies and International Financial Institutions (GEF, World Bank, UNDP) should support:

o research on women�s strategies to cope with transport needs, incl. e-commerce / virtual shopping; community taxis; etc

o infra-structure for non-motorised transport and pedestrians

o initiatives providing more bicycles for women, especially in developing countries

o sustainable, local, small-scale transport development

11) Governments and relevant agencies should conduct improved transport surveys, including gender relevant research and gender sensitive methodologies, including gender sensitive interviewing; analysing daily realities of female transport users, women's latent demands and their willingness to pay for better transport; documenting transport sharing models at local levels; gender sensitive stakeholder consultation.

12) Governments, relevant agencies and research institutions should provide statistics on gender differentiated mobility, including data differentiated by length of trip rather than number of trips; by reasons to travel (men have more choice than women); car drivers vs. passengers; accounting for journeys on foot which are women's; accounting for typical times of travel (rush hours, i.e. men's travel, vs. non-rush hours, i.e. school run); providing figures on health issues, e.g. transport poverty (being marooned in rural areas links with increased use of anti-depressants).

13) Governments and donor agencies should support networks addressing working on gender and sustainable to develop concrete strategies towards integrating sustainable, gender-equitable development into transport systems development, particularly as part of the preparations for the Summit in 2002.

14) NGOs and women's organisations should

� Create a formalised dialogue amongst gender & environment researchers, women�s organisations and transport NGOs

� Create a West/East European network on gender & transport issues, (e.g. as a component of the global NGO transport network of the CSD NGO Transport Caucus.)

A missing dimension from this very useful and very important set of guidelines is the need to develop an integrated gender, transport and information communication technology strategy. In the body of this course we have seen that information communication technology can influence, affect and improve the travel and transport experience of women in significant ways. This perspective is still largely absent in the wider body of the literature on transport and even within the literature on gender and transport.

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