Highlights
Read this chapter to:
- Understand how gender influences mobility patterns and why urban transport systems often fail to meet women’s needs.
- Learn practical strategies and global examples of how cities are improving urban mobility for women through infrastructure, safety, and service design.
- Explore how to promote women’s employment and leadership in the urban transport sector through recruitment, training, and workplace policies.
- Gain insight into enabling women entrepreneurs to thrive in the transport ecosystem through finance, market access, and business development support.
Overview:
Urban transport operations focus on enhancing urban mobility and accessibility in various cities around the globe. These operations aim to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and safety of urban public transport systems in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Objectives include the development of a diverse range of transit solutions, such as bus rapid transit (BRT) corridors, metro systems, suburban rail, multimodal urban transit systems, and urban logistics. Furthermore, the projects support the transition to cleaner technologies, including electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles, contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Efforts also address climate resilience, road safety, and institutional capacity building in the transport sector. By targeting key corridors, feeder lines, and integrated transit networks, these operations strive to increase access to economic and social opportunities, enhance the quality of life for urban residents, and support sustainable urban development.
Mobility
In urban areas, disproportionate mobility barriers often faced by women are intrinsically linked to availability, affordability, physical accessibility, social and cultural acceptability, and safety of transport.
A global literature shows some clear patterns of public transport usage for women and men. Women tend to travel shorter distances in a limited geographical radius and are more likely to travel with dependents during off-peak hours for unpaid care work. This is often referred to as mobility of care1. Given the need to balance household and work responsibilities, women typically combine multiple tasks, necessitating several short trips, which is called trip chaining. Mobility of care involves complex trip chaining, which affects women’s transport choices and limits their employment options. Consequently, women end up paying higher fares for frequently changing direction, modes of transport, and breaking their journeys.
The paucity of sex-disaggregated data prevents urban transport planners and operations staff in public transport authorities from fully understanding different mobility barriers faced by women and men. Women also have off-peak needs that are often underserved. Thus, there is a need for a city-level analysis—built on sex-disaggregated mobility data—to understand different mobility patterns and provide services to cater to the needs of all.
🚌 Availability
Availability of transport remains a critical issue, particularly during off-peak hours when many women travel. While urban areas generally have better developed transport infrastructure, the quality and frequency of services often fail to meet women’s specific needs. For instance, irregular bus schedules during early mornings or late evenings can force women to wait for extended periods in potentially unsafe environments at transit stops. First- and last-mile connectivity presents additional challenges, with women encountering poorly lit streets when commuting between home and transit stops. This issue is particularly acute in informal settlements or peripheral urban areas where public transport coverage is sparse. The lack of dedicated cycling lanes and secure parking at rail or bus stations further limits mobility options, discouraging women from using bicycles as a viable transport alternative to cover their first- and last-mile needs. Table 2.1 highlights possible interventions and indicators to track progress.
INTERVENTIONS | OUTPUT INDICATORS |
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Data collection to construct baselines: Undertake a study to collect sex-disaggregated data on mobility needs, focusing on:
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Bus corridors: Develop bus corridors with real-time information and enhanced security measures for improved access and passenger safety. Bus service availability and schedules: Enhance bus service availability and schedules to align with women’s travel patterns, ensuring reliable and frequent service, based on the study findings. |
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Demand-responsive transport services: Implement flexible transport options, such as ride-sharing or on-demand shuttles, especially in underserved areas to bridge the first- and last-mile connectivity. |
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Availability of information: Ensure wide availability of signs and instructions for directions, station names, route maps, and help desks to aid navigation. |
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Integrated multimodal transport hubs: Establish transport hubs that facilitate seamless transfers between different modes of transport, ensuring safe and convenient connections. |
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Cycle networks and walking paths: Design and maintain well-lit, accessible, and safe walking and cycling paths leading to transit stops, also covering informal settlements and peripheral urban areas. |
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OUTCOME INDICATORS |
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🧩 The Challenge
With 63% of Moroccans now living in cities—a number set to rise to 70% by 2050—urbanization is creating opportunities for economic growth and connectivity. Yet
🧩 The Challenge
With 63% of Moroccans now living in cities—a number set to rise to 70% by 2050—urbanization is creating opportunities for economic growth and connectivity. Yet women and low-income communities face significant challenges in this changing landscape. Congested roads, unreliable public transport, and limited access to jobs and services highlight the need for a new approach to urban movement.
A 2017 World Bank-funded survey1 identified several barriers to women’s access to urban transport, with safety concerns being a significant issue. Many women expressed worries about their personal security and stated that they would use public transport more often if security was improved. 90% of women indicated that better service, greater reliability, shorter wait times, and improved facilities would also increase their use of public transport. The presence of other women on public transport was another key factor, with women reporting feeling more comfortable when surrounded by other women, whether passengers or employees.
🛠️ The Intervention
To support this effort, the World Bank has committed $350 million through the Morocco Urban Transport Program and its additional financing.2 The program aims to create accessible Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems for all—women and men alike. Key initiatives include:
- BRT Services: This involves offering more frequent service and schedules that fit women's travel patterns.
- Female-Friendly Infrastructure: This includes ramps, handlebars, and lower grades that make it easier to walk. Storage space for packages, bags, and strollers, convenience stores, and clean, safe public restrooms are equally important. Easy-to-use transfer stations and fare integration systems specifically cater to women, who typically take more multi-leg trips than men do.
- Training: Operators, local stakeholders, and transit authorities trained to create a conducive travel environment for women.
- Codes of Conduct: Clearly defined rules to promote safety during transit.
Casablanca launched its BRT Line 1 in March 2024; Agadir’s BRT is expected by mid-2025.
To date, 100,000 daily users, including approximately 45% women, are benefiting from the new, safe, reliable, clean, and modern public transport system. This number is projected to increase to 130,000 daily users with the introduction of the new BRT system in Agadir, set to launch in November 2025.
💡 Lessons Learned
- Sex-disaggregated Data: Sex-disaggregated mobility data permits transport authorities to develop design and track progress.
- Infrastructure design that addresses women’s needs: Female-friendly BRT infrastructure, accessible facilities, and frequent service that fits with women's needs significantly boosts female ridership.
- Private Sector Influence: The hiring of female bus drivers was driven by private companies as part of an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitment, highlighting the role of the private sector in promoting changes.
Note: Nabil Samir, Senior Transport Specialist at the World Bank, provided input into this case study.
1 World Bank. 2017. Morocco Urban Transport Social Survey, Funded by the Umbrella Facility of Gender Equality (UFGE), Washington DC. Internal document.
2 Morocco Urban Transport Project (Program For Results) and its Additional Financing (P149653 and P173048) (2015–2025)
💰 Affordability
Affordability poses another significant barrier to women’s mobility. To stay mobile, women are frequently forced to pay higher costs for alternative transportation options like taxis or private services, despite earning lower wages and having lower employment rates than men. Economic disparities make regular use of public transport a financial burden for many women. This is exacerbated by fare structures that do not account for women’s typical travel patterns. For example, a woman who needs to drop children at school, go to work, and then shop for groceries might have to pay for multiple single trip tickets, making the cumulative cost prohibitively expensive.
Safety concerns often force women to opt for more expensive transport options, such as taxis or ride-sharing services, especially at night or in areas perceived as unsafe. This is effectively equivalent to levying a "pink tax"—which is the extra amount women pay for certain products or services, in this case, transportation—that can significantly limit women’s mobility and access to opportunities, particularly for low-income women who may forgo a job or school due to high transport costs. Table 2.2 highlights possible interventions and the corresponding indicators, and box 2.1 shows a case study from in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
INTERVENTIONS | OUTPUT INDICATORS |
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Subsidized fares: Introduce discounted public transportation fares for low-income women to make transport more affordable. |
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Off-peak discounts accommodating women’s trip chaining patterns: Provide women and their dependents with multitrip and family passes during peak hours, like early morning school drop-off and late afternoon pick up, to accommodate the various needs associated with mobility of care. |
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Integrated ticketing systems: Implement seamless ticketing solutions that allow passengers to use a single ticket or payment method across multiple modes of public transport. |
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Real-time fare information: Develop mobile apps and kiosks that provide up-to-date fare details and ticket purchasing options, helping to minimize uncertainty and enhance convenience. Integrate fare information into apps and kiosks. |
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OUTCOME INDICATORS |
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🧩 The Challenge
Improving affordability for vulnerable women is essential for fostering independence, facilitating access to essential services. For women in situations of domestic violence and economic vulnerability
🧩 The Challenge
Improving affordability for vulnerable women is essential for fostering independence, facilitating access to essential services. For women in situations of domestic violence and economic vulnerability, transportation costs can be a significant barrier to seeking help or escaping abusive environments. Affordable and accessible transport empowers women to access support networks, justice services, and social protection mechanisms, creating pathways to safety and self-reliance.
Rio de Janeiro faces a persistent challenge with gender-based violence (GBV), including high rates of domestic violence and feminicides. Many women, particularly those in remote or low-income areas, lack the means to escape abuse or access specialized support services. The city’s Specialized Network for Combating Violence Against Women, comprising facilities like the Specialized Center to Assist Carioca Women (CEAM), provides critical support but often struggles to reach women constrained by financial and logistical barriers.
🛠️ The Intervention
Recognizing the intersection of economic vulnerability and mobility challenges, Rio de Janeiro City Hall with the support of the World Bank’s Rio de Janeiro Fiscal Management and Sustainable Development Policy Loan1 launched an innovative transport subsidy program to address this gap.
The Cartão Move Mulher (Move Women Card) program was established by the decree in 2021 (and sanctioned through the law in 2022) to provide free public transportation to women experiencing domestic violence. Administered by the Secretariat for Women's Policies and Promotion, the program distributes Move Mulher travel cards, which enable users to access critical services within the city’s violence-fighting network, including women's shelters, public defenders, police stations, and specialized service centers. Each eligible woman receives a card charged for up to six bus tickets per month with the possibility of adding another card within a month in case of need.
In addition to the Move Mulher card, Rio City Hall has introduced complementary measures like the Cartão Mulher Carioca, offering financial aid of R$500 to the families of women who are victims of violence.
📊 Results
By the end of 2023, more than 4,000 Move-Mulher cards have been distributed. The Move-Mulher program represents a significant step in Rio’s policies to combat GBV by ensuring affordable mobility for women in crisis. By enabling women to access essential services without financial burden, the program empowers them to break the cycle of violence and seek justice. The provision of multiple cards per user ensures continued support and fosters a sense of security and autonomy.
📌 Conclusion
The Move-Mulher program exemplifies how targeted transport subsidies can address gender-specific barriers, fostering empowerment and resilience for women in vulnerable situations. As the program continues to expand, it serves as a model for integrating mobility, social protection, and GBV prevention into a cohesive urban policy framework. This initiative not only improves individual outcomes for women but also strengthens Rio’s broader commitment to gender equity and inclusive development.
Note: This case study was prepared based on a desk review of project documents and recent articles such as Rio City Hall launches the Move-Mulher Card (Rio Prefectura, 2022) and Rio, uma cidade referência na equidade de gênero (Rio Prefeitura, 2023). Ana Waksberg Guerrini, Senior Urban Transport Specialist at the World Bank, provided input into this case study.
1 Rio de Janeiro Fiscal Management and Sustainable Development Policy Loan (P179182) (2023–2024).
🧑🦯 Accessibility
Physical accessibility in urban transport systems often fails to consider the diverse needs of women users. Many public transport vehicles and infrastructure projects are designed with a “neutral” male user in mind, overlooking the requirements of parents (both women and men) traveling with children, carrying groceries, or managing other care-related tasks. High steps when boarding buses, large gaps between platforms and train coaches, and lack of storage provisions create literal barriers to comfortable travel.
While universal accessibility measures—such as ramps, elevators, and step-free access—enhance mobility for all users, they do not fully address the specific mobility challenges women face. Infrastructure design that accommodates women’s needs, goes further by incorporating elements that improve safety, convenience, and usability. For example, poorly maintained sidewalks—often broken, discontinuous, or obstructed by street vendors or parked vehicles—force people to walk on the road, exposing them to traffic risks. Likewise, transit stops and stations often lack facilities that cater to the needs of women, such as separate toilets, breastfeeding rooms, and childcare areas. The absence of these amenities can make long commutes particularly difficult for parents with young children or women who are pregnant or menstruating. Table 2.3 highlights possible interventions and boxes 2.2 and 2.3 show interventions in Morocco and Chennai, India, respectively.
INTERVENTIONS | OUTPUT INDICATORS |
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Vehicles with universal accessibility features: Ensure that public transport vehicles have lower boarding steps, spacious interiors, and designated storage for luggage, groceries, and childcare items. |
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Station infrastructure: Upgrade transport infrastructure by creating smooth, level transitions between platforms and vehicles. |
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Transit stops and waiting areas: Equip main transit stops and stations with essential facilities like separate toilets for women and men, breastfeeding rooms for women, and childcare areas for parents and children. |
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Infrastructure for non-motorized transport: Expand safe infrastructure for non-motorized transport, including sidewalks and bike lanes, to improve access for all. |
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OUTCOME INDICATORS |
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🧩 The Challenge
In cities across India, 30–50 percent of women report using public transport, mostly buses, as their primary way to get around. However, perceived safety is a major
🧩 The Challenge
In cities across India, 30–50 percent of women report using public transport, mostly buses, as their primary way to get around. However, perceived safety is a major concern, especially at night. A 2021 World Bank study in Chennai found that women generally avoid traveling after dark, in part because of safety concerns. The study found that women travel more frequently between 3 and 5 pm, when it is light outside. Men travel more between 5 and 7 pm.
Public transport is often not designed with women’s needs in mind, which limits their access to jobs, education, and economic independence.
The World Bank’s study in Chennai found that many women worry about their safety and security on public transport. Many reported sexual harassment at all times of day and rising in the evening and at night. Few female public transit riders knew about emergency helplines, and a shortage of restrooms, challenges getting on and off buses and trains, and dense crowds are all sources of concern.
🛠️ The Intervention
The Chennai Gender and Policy Lab (GPL)1 is designed to create safer public areas, including public transport spaces, for women in the city.
To do that, the GPL conducted safety audits at 47 transit and other public places throughout the city. The audit dug deep into detail; it revealed that though people often felt unsafe crossing streets, they avoided foot bridges and subways. And the presence of street vendors, especially women, made people feel safer.
With that information, GPL designed training programs for city authorities and campaigns to raise awareness on women’s safety. It advocated for reclaiming public spaces, addressing topics like bystander intervention, asserting women’s rights to the city, and standing against gender-based violence (GBV). GPL helped direct the placement and design of new and renovated bus shelters. In the city’s parks, GPL recommended infrastructure upgrades like better lighting, seating, visibility, and maintenance. It also suggested displaying helpline numbers on signs and training security guards to handle harassment. GPL analyzed helpline data to identify “dark spots” and helped install 425 new light posts in 152 locations.
💡 Lesson Learned
- Political Leadership: Political will and support from senior leadership, especially the Greater Chennai Corporation, Chennai’s local government, was crucial.
- Government Priorities: Linking GPL’s work with national programs built political support.
- Breaking Down Silos: A working group comprised of local government leaders, Chennai’s transport authority, and the city's police shared data and resources.
- A Data-Driven Approach: Data helped GPL analyze how different women and men use public spaces. This data then informed improvements in infrastructure and services.
📌 Conclusion
The Chennai Gender and Policy Lab is focused on the safety of women in public spaces and transportation. It integrates considerations for women into city-wide planning and service delivery. Using research, community input, and collaboration with city authorities, GPL has suggested new policies and done safety audits, and its work has led to a greater awareness of women’s rights. This work, and the GPL’s new Gender Inclusive Design Manual for the Chennai metropolitan area, are pivotal moves toward building inclusive infrastructure for women over the long term.
Note: Gerald Paul Ollivier, Lead Transport Specialist at the World Bank, reviewed and cleared this case study.
1 Chennai City Partnership: Sustainable Urban Services Program (P175221).
🚨 Safety and Personal Security
Security concerns are one of the most significant mobility barriers. Women potentially face harassment at multiple points of their journey, from the first and last mile to waiting at stops and inside vehicles. Harassment ranges from verbal harassment and intimidation to physical assault. Overcrowded public transport provides opportunities for harassment, while deserted stations and stops heighten anxieties about safety, especially during off-peak hours and at night. The lack of effective grievance redressal mechanisms and dysfunctional emergency helplines further compounds these issues, leaving women feeling vulnerable and unsupported. Women are less likely to report incidents of harassment for fear of retaliation by preparators, defamation by their own community, lack of awareness of reporting mechanisms, and distrust of grievance redressal mechanisms, thereby resulting in low levels of reporting. These safety concerns not only restrict women’s immediate mobility but also have a long-term impact on their educational and professional choices. Studies have shown that women may choose lower-ranking educational institutions or lower-paying jobs closer to home to avoid unsafe commutes, perpetuating economic disparities and limiting their career progression. Table 2.4 highlights key interventions to address these security concerns followed by several examples that highlight the importance of tailoring these measures to the local context and users’ expected behaviors (boxes 2.4 to 2.6).
INTERVENTIONS | OUTPUT INDICATORS |
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Safety and personal security audits: Conduct audits to benchmark harassment levels, identify vulnerable areas, and understand how infrastructure and design choices affect mobility. These audits allow women, through their participation, to assess their safety and security in public spaces and transport facilities, while also evaluating the adequacy of infrastructure and spatial usage patterns. See box 2.5 for more information on audits.
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Physical design: Incorporate safety features into urban transport systems, such as well-lit stations and CCTV cameras. Additionally, create separate, well-lit waiting areas for women at transport hubs, equipped with seating and security personnel, to enhance comfort and safety. |
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GBV protocols: Establish protocols to tackle gender-based violence (GBV) in public transport/space, including:
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Public awareness campaigns: launch an educational campaign to raise awareness about harassment and violence against women in public transport, incorporating a range of strategies to ensure broad outreach and engagement, featuring:
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Bystander intervention training: Provide training for transport staff and users on bystander intervention techniques (for instance, the “5Ds:” distract, delegate, document, delay, and direct, among others), ensuring staff and transport users are equipped with the knowledge and skills to intervene safely. |
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Data collection on incidents to enhance response: Collect and analyze data on assaults occurring in public transport systems to identify patterns and trends. Use the insights gained from the data to design and implement targeted safety training for transport service providers. This intervention could:
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OUTCOME INDICATORS |
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Learnings & Lessons Shaping Interventions to Local Needs—Lessons from Chennai
In April 2022, Chennai introduced AI-enabled panic buttons in its public buses to improve women's safety. Starting with 500 buses, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) expanded the program to 2,330 buses by January 2023, approaching its target of 2,500. Each bus is equipped with four panic buttons, an AI-enabled recorder, and three cameras. Pressing a panic button triggers an alarm at the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC), which also records the incident. The system is connected to both Chennai City Police and the Greater Chennai Corporation’s distress response center for quick action.
The initiative has been widely supported by officials, who emphasize its potential to enhance women’s safety. Awareness campaigns were conducted in December 2022 to educate passengers about the panic buttons. However, despite the technology, many women are reluctant to use the panic buttons, often due to cultural barriers and fear of drawing attention during harassment. Additionally, children misuse the system by pressing buttons for fun, which has led to false alarms, potentially diverting resources from real emergencies. This highlights that while technology is essential, addressing social attitudes and user behavior is key to its success, and that what works in one context may not work in another.
The information in this box is based on consultations with MTC, GCC, Chennai Gender and Policy Lab teams in July 2023 and various local news sources such as:
https://citizenmatters.in/mtc-chennais-buses-alby-john-varghese-e-tickets-smart-card-panic-buttons/
https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2022/May/17/mtc-staff-public-clueless-about-panic-buttons-2454877.html
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Learnings & Lessons Safety Audits in Urban Public Transport
Safety audits serve as critical tools for city authorities and public transport providers to evaluate and improve security. These comprehensive assessments offer benchmarks for harassment levels, identification of vulnerable areas, and understanding of how infrastructure and design choices affect user safety. Through participatory mechanisms, safety audits empower women to assess their safety perceptions in public spaces and transport facilities, while evaluating infrastructure adequacy and spatial usage patterns. These assessments examine key components, including street lighting quality, pavement conditions, accessibility of transit stations, last-mile connectivity options, and availability of social amenities such as public toilets, parks, and markets.
The assessment process can leverage technology for data collection. Modern digital tools facilitate comprehensive coverage across urban areas while maintaining standardized evaluation criteria. The World Bank Toolkit for Enabling Gender Responsive Urban Mobility and Public Spaces in India provides a detailed methodology and guidance for conducting safety audits, along with best practices from organizations implementing such assessments (Olliver, Mitali, and Sarah 2022). The resulting data generates detailed safety maps that highlight priority areas needing intervention. These insights guide government decisions on infrastructure improvements, focusing on critical elements like lighting enhancement, footpath rehabilitation, and strategic placement of public facilities. Depending on available resources and local context, cities may conduct these audits through professional agencies or community-led initiatives.
Learnings & Lessons Benefits and Drawbacks of Women-Only Transportation
Governments and transport companies worldwide have implemented various measures to address sexual harassment and violence in public transport and public spaces. One such measure is sex-segregated transportation, introduced in cities across countries like Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, and Mexico, to enhance safety for women. By providing designated train cars, buses, or transit sections, these initiatives aim to offer immediate relief and a sense of security, improving women’s mobility and access to employment and essential services. While some women-only services have reported a decrease in safety incidents, as expected, concerns remain about their long-term impact and operational challenges, with limited evidence on their overall effectiveness in reducing harassment in door-to-door transit beyond the reserved cars.
Some Benefits of Women-Only Transport
- Enhanced safety: In environments where women face significant harassment in public spaces, providing women-only transport can offer them a safer space to travel in the segregated transport. For example, evidence from the World Bank’s Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) research in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, indicates that women riding in the reserved train cars reported experiencing physical harassment at one-half the rate compared to those women riding in mixed cars with men (Kondylis, Legovini, Vyborny, Zwager, and Andrade 2020)
- Certain contexts where social norms severely restrict the mobility of women and girls may require women-only transport. In societies where it is socially discouraged for women and girls to travel without male chaperones, women-only transport can serve as a temporary solution until societal attitudes toward female independence in travel change and public space safety improves. For example, the World Bank’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa project, discussed in chapter 3, highlights how women-only transport is essential in improving rural girls’ access to schools.
Some Drawbacks of Women-Only Transport
- Risk of stigmatization and victim-blaming: Some studies suggest that the presence of women-only transport may lead to the perception that women who do not use these services are responsible for any harassment they experience, further entrenching biases (Dunckel-Graglia 2013).
- Reinforcement of segregation: While women-only spaces provide short-term relief, they may also reinforce social norms that restrict women’s mobility. Some critics argue that such measures implicitly place the responsibility for avoiding harassment on women rather than addressing the behavior of perpetrators.
- Operational and logistical challenges: Women-only transport can lead to overcrowding in sections that carry both women and men while leaving women-only spaces underutilized at certain times. In India, for instance, women-only buses have struggled with low ridership due to infrequent service and limitations on women traveling with male companions (Shah 2018).
- Limited scope: Women-only transport is not a universal solution, particularly in areas where public transport infrastructure is already inadequate. Relying solely on sex-segregated options can divert attention from broader systemic improvements that benefit all users, including better enforcement of antiharassment laws and safer transport design.
Women-only transport can provide immediate safety benefits, but it is not a comprehensive solution to harassment in public spaces. While women-only transport can be part of a multifaceted approach to safer public transportation, it should not replace policies that tackle harassment at its core.
Employment
Women in urban transport face several barriers across recruitment, retention, and career growth.
Roles such as bus drivers, conductors and station staff remain male-dominated due to limited awareness, gender stereotypes, and low female participation in transport-related training. High-skilled technical positions—such as vehicle maintenance specialists, traffic control operators, and electric vehicle technicians—also see low female representation, often due to gaps in access to specialized training. Work environments frequently lack women-friendly infrastructure, such as sanitation facilities at depots and terminals, and provide poorly fitting uniforms and protective gear. Long or irregular shifts, particularly in public bus and metro services, can conflict with caregiving duties and raise safety concerns. Additionally, the underrepresentation in leadership further restrict women’s progression in the sector.
🤝 Outreach and Recruitment
The urban transport sector faces significant challenges in attracting and recruiting female employees. There are several barriers preventing women from accessing and staying in the transport sector. These include low female enrollment in technical education fields, gender stereotypes that discourage girls from pursuing transport-related education and careers, and the widespread lack of awareness among women about the diverse jobs available in the sector, particularly semi-skilled frontline positions such as bus drivers and conductors. This information deficit is compounded by women’s systematic exclusion from professional networks where these job opportunities are typically discussed and disseminated, further limiting their access to potential career paths in urban transport. Table 2.5 highlights some of the interventions related to women’s recruitment that employers (transport ministries, municipal agencies, and transport service providers) can undertake.
INTERVENTIONS | OUTPUT INDICATORS |
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HR workforce database: Invest in HR database improvements to enable analysis of staff entitlements and conditions by sex and other demographic and socio-economic factors. Collecting sex-disaggregated workforce data is a crucial step in developing evidence-based responses and policies. Data can be collected across a wide spectrum of domains, such as women’s and men’s employment in total and across different positions, age, training, and development, leave uptake, duration of employment, and so on. |
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Communication to challenge perceptions about the suitability of transport roles for women: through public communications, job descriptions, and the building of an employer narrative around engaging with women. |
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Nurturing female talent:
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Internship program: Establish a paid internship program for women in male-dominated fields like transport engineering and urban planning, targeting X female final-year students and recent graduates for X-month internships in key urban transport agencies. |
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Targeted skills trainings: Develop targeted training programs for women in the urban transport sector, collaborating with Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions and universities to identify candidates. |
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Promote women’s employment in urban transport through public procurement: Promote women in different roles through concessionaire bidding documents to increase women’s employment within private sector operators. |
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OUTCOME INDICATORS |
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🧩 The Challenge
The people of Dakar, the capital of Senegal, have long struggled with chronic traffic congestion, dangerous roads, heavy air pollution, and high greenhouse gas emissions. These issues
🧩 The Challenge
The people of Dakar, the capital of Senegal, have long struggled with chronic traffic congestion, dangerous roads, heavy air pollution, and high greenhouse gas emissions. These issues affect both city residents’ quality of life and Dakar’s economy. To address these problems, Senegal’s government is overhauling Dakar’s transport to make it more affordable and accessible, with an emphasis on reducing carbon emissions. A key element of this strategy is the Dakar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Pilot Project (P172342), which is set to become a model for other cities in Africa.
🛠️ The Intervention
The Dakar BRT project aims to enhance urban links Dakar and Guédiawaye via an 18.3- kilometer corridor. It is the first fully electric BRT line in Africa, serves up to 300,000 passengers daily, and cuts travel time from Dakar to Guédiawaye from 95 to 45 minutes. The Dakar BRT project is designed to attract both female passengers and female workers. It focuses on women’s safety and aims to meet their travel needs; it also commits to raising the percentage of female BRT employees from a baseline of 6% to 25% over the next five years. This is part of the government’s plan for a public transport workforce that is split equally between men and women. Safety, well-lit stations, surveillance cameras, and broader, protected sidewalks were paramount in the BRT corridor design. Other safety features include CCTV surveillance and mirror system across stations and buses, having a dedicated police, and using community awareness campaigns and clearly defined protocols to address harassment. As of October 2024, the BRT network reported a low rate of 3.51 crimes per million passengers.
🏗️ Implementation Challenges and Successes
The Dakar BRT project encountered challenges because of deep-rooted gender disparities in transport. Finding and hiring qualified women bus drivers was a problem.
The project solved that problem by training women so they could get licenses to operate heavy equipment and to qualify to drive buses.
💡 Lessons Learned
- Addressing Barriers: BRT Private operator worked with driving schools and vocational centers to train women for certain jobs, demonstrating the value of eliminating barriers to women’s representation.
- External Examples: Learning from successful case studies in other countries provided a blueprint for overcoming resistance and inspiring local stakeholders.
- Leadership and Advocacy: Committed leadership is essential, particularly in the face of resistance. Strong leadership ensured that targets were not only a goal, but an actionable priority.
- Partnerships: Partnerships with vocational training schools, local NGOs, women's associations, and recruitment agencies were crucial.
- Recruitment and Communication: Inclusive recruitment campaigns that used social media, flyers, signs, and community outreach were pivotal in attracting women to transport.
- Safety and Inclusivity: Infrastructure designed to improve women’s safety and access make the BRT system more inclusive. Community liaison officers and local safety committees help address safety concerns in a culturally sensitive way.
📌 Conclusion
The Dakar BRT project is an example of the impact of targeted interventions. The project not only met but surpassed its women’s employment targets. This experience underscores the importance of a broad approach that combines infrastructure, training, and strong stakeholder engagement to reach gender equity in urban transit.
Note: This case study was prepared based on an interview with Franck Taillandier (Lead Transport Specialist, World Bank) and Cassandra Augusma (Transport Specialist, World Bank), and with substantive inputs from the staff of Dakar Mobility during a World Bank mission held in November 2024.
📝 HR Policies and Practices
Biases persist in human resource (HR) policies and practices in the urban mobility sector. Some in management harbor discriminatory attitudes, particularly toward women with family obligations or those expecting children. These biases manifest in unfair practices such as overlooking qualified women for advancement in bus operations or train services or assigning fewer demanding routes to female drivers. The unique challenges of urban mobility work, including security issues during late-night shifts, extended or unpredictable hours, and subpar workplace amenities, further deter recruiters from employing women in frontline roles.
Inequalities between women and men are evident in the design and provision of workplace infrastructure. Many transport hubs and vehicles are configured with male employees in mind, offering minimal or no accommodations for female staff. These include few basic sanitation facilities such as women’s toilets. Personal protective equipment (PPE) that is designed to fit most men is another example: gloves are often too big for women, safety googles are too wide for their faces, or women have to wear uncomfortably high heels (World Bank and EBRD 2024). A lack of PPE that fits women is not only a question of comfort but can be a serious health issue since improperly fitting PPE does not adequately protect against occupational hazards and could increase the risk of illnesses, injuries, and death. Beyond health hazards, ill-fitting PPE could lower employee productivity simply by making basic tasks harder. This lack of consideration for female employees is often justified by citing the historically male-dominated nature of the transport sector or perceived physical job requirements. Such practices not only restrict women’s access to operational positions but also perpetuate misconceptions about women’s suitability for certain roles.
Finally, regulatory barriers pose additional obstacles to women’s participation in the sector. Certain requirements, such as legal restrictions on working in certain transport sector jobs in remote locations, or during evening hours, disproportionately affect women and can bar them from many positions. Moreover, these positions frequently demand long working hours, which can be particularly problematic for women, who may face greater safety risks or have caregiving responsibilities that conflict with such schedules.
Table 2.6 highlights some of the interventions related to human resources policies and practices that employers (transport ministries, municipal agencies, and transport service providers) can implement. Box 2.8 presents a case study from Mexico.
INTERVENTIONS | OUTPUT INDICATORS |
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Flexible work-life policies: Introduce policies that provide flexible working hours, job-sharing arrangements, and part-time options for employees. Sexual harassment policy: Develop and implement a sexual harassment policy, including procedures for reporting and redress, and ensure it is accessible to all staff and published on the company website. |
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Workplace infrastructure and uniform and PPE: Implement safety measures, including separate toilets for men and women, changing rooms, and lighting. Provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that is appropriately designed to fit both women and men. |
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A staff satisfaction survey: Conduct periodic surveys to assess satisfaction with employment terms, working conditions, hours, leave, professional development, and equal opportunity outcomes. Analyze results by sex and demographics to inform activities, evaluate implementation, and identify areas for improvement. |
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OUTCOME INDICATORS |
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🧩 The Challenge
Women make up just 11% of the transportation workforce in Mexico.1 Women in transport generally work in administrative and service roles, while men typically
🧩 The Challenge
Women make up just 11% of the transportation workforce in Mexico.1 Women in transport generally work in administrative and service roles, while men typically occupy leadership, managerial, technical, driving, and operational positions.
🛠️ The Intervention
The Mujeres Conductoras Program in the Mexican state of Jalisco2 addresses gender inequality in transport, an issue with implications far beyond employment. The program goes beyond job skills to address the challenges facing women workers and riders; in addition to driving training, it offers course modules on safety regulations, and protocols for preventing violence.
Another part of the program makes it easier for women to get a public transport license. The law used to require four years of professional driving experience as a prerequisite for a public transport license, called a C2. This was a significant hurdle for women with limited experience. Because of the program, a driver’s license of any type now permits someone to apply for a C2. This has opened doors for women while addressing public transport’s shortage of drivers.
The Mujeres Conductoras Program prioritized collaboration with transportation companies. Government agencies worked closely with both public and private companies to create a hiring pipeline.
🏗️ Implementation Challenges and Successes
The Mujeres program confronted deeply ingrained beliefs that driving is a male profession. The first female driving students faced an array of obstacles ranging from disapproval from their families, hostile male drivers, and the general view that women should not work as drivers. Many women, especially the 58% who were heads of households, struggled to balance the demands of working with their caregiving responsibilities. Some companies tried to accommodate women with more flexible schedules, but pressure to work during rush hours remains a challenge. Drivers also must cope with a lack of restrooms at terminals and along bus routes.
Despite these obstacles, the program had an immediate impact on the number of women entering the public transportation workforce. The female graduation rate rose from 60% for the first cohort of students to 75% in the second. Changes in the program’s design, such as online training modules and flexible scheduling, addressed participants' needs. The program also marked a shift to a more formal employment model which brought substantial benefits to both male and female drivers. All drivers got standardized wages, social security benefits, vacations, and fixed schedules. The new working conditions greatly benefited male drivers, who had previously endured gruelling 24-hour shifts and the task of maintaining their vehicles.
The program also sent a message by challenging conventional roles about women and men, and inspiring other women. Women began to see themselves as capable employees who might pursue a non-traditional career. And female drivers’ place behind the wheel helped create a sense of security for female riders. In the Mexican state of Jalisco, 8 in 10 women report feeling unsafe on public transportation.
💡 Lessons Learned
- Financial Support: Using a stipend to support program participants was instrumental. The stipend helped women overcome economic barriers to participation.
- Flexibility and Adaptability: The program adapted to participants’ needs. Online training and flexible scheduling meant women could better juggle work and family.
- Inter-institutional Collaboration: The program's collaboration with government agencies, educational institutions, and public and private transportation companies guaranteed steady funding, informed curriculum design, helped with legal compliance, and offered jobs to graduates.
- Addressing Gender Stereotypes: The program tackled stereotypes about driving with training and by highlighting women drivers’ accomplishments.
📌 Conclusion
While the Mujeres Conductoras Program has benefited newly employed women drivers by offering them economic autonomy and boosting their self-esteem, and it has sent a strong message to their families and communities. The program has also reduced absenteeism, and increased safety. While challenges remain, the Mujeres Conductoras Program serves as a model for both promoting women’s employment and improving public transportation.
Note: Gabriela de la Torre Ríos (World Resources Institute) and Hannah Behr and Jens Giersdorf (GIZ) provided material for this case study.
1 ILO Laborstat. 15 years and above. 2023. Transportation and storage. https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/#
2 The program was implemented by the “TUMI E-Bus Mission: Accelerating mass adoption of electric buses worldwide” for the State of Jalisco, and the World Resources Institute (WRI) in Mexico, with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The data, which informed the design of the interventions, were collected in 2022.
🪜 Career Progression
Women in the urban transport sector face significant barriers to career progression. A notable challenge is the lack of adequate training and skill development programs, particularly for operating new electronic vehicles which are increasingly common in urban transport systems. This skills gap limits women’s opportunities for career advancement and adaptation to technological changes. Additionally, women’s disproportionate burden of unpaid care work necessitates employers in the public transport sector to consider their care and domestic work responsibilities. Table 2.7 highlights some of the interventions related to women’s career progression and retention. Box 2.9 presents a case study from Tanzania.
INTERVENTIONS | OUTPUT INDICATORS |
|---|---|
A performance review system: Develop a performance review system for staff with a standardized framework linking performance reviews to workforce competencies, skills development, and promotions. A range of actions can achieve this objective, such as: establishing a promotion committee comprised of both women and men, adopting a blind selection process where candidates’ resumes do not include personal details, and testing participants without revealing their personal details so as to eliminate potential conscious or unconscious gender bias in promotion decisions. |
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Women’s mentorship program: Implement a mentorship program pairing women with senior female and male professionals, focusing on various issues such as, improving technical and soft skills, and addressing specific workplace challenges. |
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Women’s networking: Create a platform for women in urban transport to connect, share experiences, and seek mentorship. |
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OUTCOME INDICATORS |
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🧩 The Challenge
Tanzania is experiencing rapid urbanization, with half of its population expected to live in cities by 2050. Urban areas already contribute about 50% of the
🧩 The Challenge
Tanzania is experiencing rapid urbanization, with half of its population expected to live in cities by 2050. Urban areas already contribute about 50% of the country's GDP, with Dar es Salaam—home to 40% of the urban population—being one of Africa's fastest-growing cities. The city is projected to become a megacity by 2030. However, urban inefficiencies hinder productivity, job creation, and accessibility, highlighting the need for improved infrastructure and public transport systems.
The National Transport Policy (NTP) aims to enhance urban mobility, emphasizing high-capacity public transport, with the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system as the key initiative. Supported by the World Bank’s Dar Es Salaam Urban Transport Improvement Project (2017–2026), the BRT system’s first phase has already cut travel times significantly. With six planned phases, the goal is to develop a 140.1 km network by 2030. While the BRT reduces congestion and improves accessibility in the city’s core, informal settlements still face long commutes and high transportation costs. The system also aligns with climate goals, promoting sustainable mobility and reducing car use.
🛠️ The Intervention
The Dar Es Salaam Urban Transport Improvement Project (P150937) includes several initiatives aimed at improving women’s mobility and boosting their employment opportunities within the transport sector.
Initiatives to enhance women’s mobility include:
- Improved Pedestrian Infrastructure: The project is developing safer walking spaces, including sidewalks, lighting, and pedestrian crossings, focusing on areas with high foot traffic.
- Enhanced Public Transport: The BRT system is being expanded to reduce waiting times, ease overcrowding, and improve safety for female passengers.
- Mobile Reporting System for Gender-Based Violence (GBV): The system allows women to report GBV incidents in public transport, maps occurrences, and facilitates action from authorities. The data collected supports advocacy and policy change to make public transport safer and more inclusive for women and girls.
Initiatives to improve employment opportunities for women include:
- Vocational Skills and Entrepreneurship Training: Daladala drivers and conductors impacted by BRT Phase 3 receive training to transition into new roles.
- Structured Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP): This program trains fresh engineering graduates through the Ministry of Works (MoW) and provides stipends to enable participation. The project aims for 50% female enrollment in SEAP, enhancing women’s representation in the engineering workforce.
User satisfaction and the training and employment of women are some of the indicators used to monitor progress against the activities outlined in the project.
🏗️ Implementation Challenges and Successes
The project faced several challenges such as leadership continuity issues and delays in system functionalities. Despite these hurdles, the project achieved notable successes:
- Graduate Engineering Initiative: The SEAP reached equal representation of women and men, with 433 graduates (211 men and 210 women) participating as of March 2024. Of the 421 graduates, 199 became registered professional engineers, including 91 women, significantly increasing female representation in engineering.
- Women Drivers Training: Under the Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) program, 102 women drivers were trained, with 77 completing the course. Many of these women have already secured positions as BRT bus drivers, and the PPP operator for BRT-1 is considering this pool of trained drivers for recruitment.
💡 Lessons Learned
The Dar Es Salaam Urban Transport Improvement Project provides valuable lessons for integrating strategies that address barriers faced by women into large-scale infrastructure projects:
- Leadership and Oversight Are Crucial: Strong, consistent leadership is vital to maintaining focus, especially during periods of institutional change.
- Expert Support from Specialists: Successful integration requires support from experts in transport and inclusion.
- Simple Tools Can Be Effective: Practical, low-cost tools like passenger satisfaction surveys, suggestion boxes, and toll-free numbers effectively identify barriers and generate actionable insights.
- Targeted Initiatives have Transformative Impacts: Programs like SEAP, which achieved parity among women and men, demonstrate the power of focused interventions to empower women in male-dominated fields.
- Capacity-Building and Local Expertise Are Essential: Strengthening the skills of social specialists and utilizing local consultants with regional knowledge enhances the effectiveness of inclusion initiatives.
📌 Conclusion
The Dar Es Salaam Urban Transport Improvement Project demonstrates the significant benefits of integrating the strategies addressing women’s mobility and employment needs into urban transport planning. By improving infrastructure, enhancing safety, and providing professional development opportunities, the project not only boosts women’s mobility but also empowers them economically and socially. While challenges such as capacity constraints and delays remain, the successes of initiatives like the graduate engineering program and tools for user feedback highlight the importance of targeted interventions.
Dar es Salaam Urban Transport Improvement Project (P150937). This case study was prepared based on a desk review and an interview with the project Task Team Leader, Yonas Eliesikia Mchomvu, World Bank’s Task Team Leader.
Note: This case study was prepared based on a desk review and an interview with Yonas Eliesikia Mchomvu, Senior Transport Specialist at the World Bank.
🌟 Leadership
A significant barrier in the urban mobility sector is the severe underrepresentation of women in leadership positions. The sector suffers from a lack of mentorship programs designed to address women’s specific needs, leaving them without crucial guidance to navigate industry-specific challenges. This gap in support systems often results in women feeling isolated and struggling to advance their careers. The absence of relatable role models and mentors who understand the unique obstacles women face in this male- dominated field further exacerbates the problem. Additionally, informal decision-making processes in promotion and career advancement often perpetuate biases, reinforcing existing workplace power imbalances and creating further barriers to women’s professional growth.
Consequently, many talented women exit the sector prematurely, unable to realize their full potential or achieve their professional aspirations, thereby perpetuating the imbalance in urban transport leadership and operations. This lack of female leadership also perpetuates a cycle of decision-making in urban transport planning and policy making that overlooks women’s perspectives as users of transport. Table 2.8 highlights some of the interventions related to women’s leadership. Box 2.10 presents a case study from Ecuador.
INTERVENTIONS | OUTPUT INDICATORS |
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Women’s Leadership program: Establish a targeted leadership training program for women in the urban transport sector, focusing on strategic planning, financial management, and team leadership. |
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Annual review process: Implement an annual review to track progress in women’s representation in managerial and senior roles, using specific metrics to measure effectiveness and adjust initiatives as needed. |
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OUTCOME INDICATORS |
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🧩 The Challenge
The 2018 Quito Metro Line One Project (P144489) was designed to enhance urban mobility in Quito, Ecuador, addressing the growing demand for public transportation. With over 91%
🧩 The Challenge
The 2018 Quito Metro Line One Project (P144489) was designed to enhance urban mobility in Quito, Ecuador, addressing the growing demand for public transportation. With over 91% of women reporting experiences of harassment in public spaces, many have been forced to adjust their travel habits for safety reasons. Additionally, women representing only 9% of the transport workforce in the country.
🛠️ The Intervention
The project implemented several measures to prevent and respond to sexual harassment in the metro, including the following:
- A Prevention and Response Protocol developed and implemented by the metro operator to provide multiple entry points for women to report harassment cases and access survivor-centered support services.
- The installation of a communication system to facilitate the reporting of harassment incidents and connect individuals to the various reporting channels for prevention and response.
- Training and capacity-building for Quito Metro staff and operators at all levels, with a requirement for transport operators and platform employees to implement the protocol.
- An internal and external communication strategy designed to foster a culture of non-violence within the metro organization and among its users.
Additionally, in response to the gender employment gap in the transport sector and the potential for improved safety perceptions and gender-responsive planning, the contract between the Quito Metro and the operator included a 20% women’s quota for operational staff and women in technical and decision-making positions.
📊 Results
During the first five months of project implementation, results were significant: 96% of women reported feeling safe on the metro, with only six harassment cases over 20 million trips.
The metro also achieved 40% female participation in its workforce, surpassing the 20% target, with 50% of management roles held by women.
Note: Alejandro Hoyos Guerrero (Senior Transport Specialist, World Bank) and Karla Dominguez Gonzalez (Senior Transport Specialist, World Bank) provided input into this case study.
Entrepreneurship
Despite emerging opportunities, such as operating electric three-wheelers for last-mile connectivity and e-commerce delivery, women entrepreneurs face numerous challenges in urban transport systems, including limited access to capital, training, and networks.
💼 Business Skills Training and Advisory Services
Women face limited access to business skills training and business advisory support in the transport sector, which is often seen as a male-dominated industry. This gender stereotype discourages women from seeking relevant training and opportunities. Additionally, transport-related subjects are frequently underrepresented in educational curricula, particularly for young women. Without access to specialized courses or training programs, women have fewer opportunities to acquire the knowledge and skills needed for business roles in transport. Table 2.9 highlights some key interventions to address these constraints.
INTERVENTIONS | OUTPUT INDICATORS |
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Launch a structured business skills training an advisory program to empower women in the urban transport sector, especially in the e-mobility space, through the following:
| Number of women receiving training and business advisory support. |
OUTCOME INITIATIVES |
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🏦 Access to Finance
Financial barriers persist, with financial institutions often imposing biases that hinder women’s ability to secure loans for vehicle purchases or transport businesses. Discriminatory practices, like requiring male co-signers or higher interest rates for female applicants, confine women to lower-paying, less secure jobs and perpetuate economic vulnerability. Table 2.10 highlights some key interventions to address these constraints.
INTERVENTIONS | OUTPUT INDICATORS |
|---|---|
Launch a dedicated initiative providing loans tailored to women entrepreneurs (for example, collateral free, low interest, and so on) in urban transport with a streamlined application process. Establish a competitive grant program to provide seed funding for women-led startups in the e-mobility sector. |
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OUTCOME INITIATIVES |
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🔗 Market Access and Linkages
Additionally, market access challenges prevent women from tapping into business opportunities and digital platforms, restricting their participation in ridesharing or delivery services and hindering their ability to generate sustainable livelihoods within the urban mobility ecosystem. Table 2.11 highlights some key interventions to address these constraints.
INTERVENTIONS | OUTPUT INDICATORS |
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Market access and linkages:
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OUTCOME INITIATIVES |
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