the challenges to gender mainstreaming of a city’s...

The Challenges to Gender Mainstreaming of a City’s Public Transit

System: System: An Explorative Study of Ahmedabad’s Janmarg

Tiyali BoseUrban Transport Planning and Management

Faculty of Planning

CEPT University

Content

• Sex, Gender and Gender Mainstreaming

• Gender Mainstreaming and Transport

• Gender Mainstreaming Tools

• Practices adopted worldwide

• Objectives, scope and methodology of the study

• Introduction to case study area

• Existing situation analysis

• Recommendation

• Future scope of the study

Sex, Gender and Mainstreaming

What is Sex and what is Gender?Are the terms Gender and Sex synonyms?

Gender= Socially defined

Sex= Biologically defined

Sex, Gender and Mainstreaming

What is Gender Mainstreaming?A strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an

integrated dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation

of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so

that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated

-United Nations 1997

Source- GIZ. Gender and Urban Transport: Smart and Affordable Module 7a.

Germany: Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2007.

Why Do We Need to Gender Mainstream the Transport Sector?

• Different Travel Behaviour of men and women (Falcocchio and Cantilli)

� Women trip chain while trips made by men are more linear in nature

• Women and men tend to use public transit services at different times of the day (Peters)

� Higher percentage of women tend to travel during off- peak hours than during peak hoursWomen often tend to let go off an opportunity to make a trip in

a public transit, if they perceive the trip to be unsafe, expensive• Women are more concerned about their personal security while men are more

concerned about road safety (Trench, Oc and Tiesdell)

� Women avoid over- crowded and desolated transport modes

� Females prefer to take longer routes if a neighbourhood is desolated or poorly lit

� Women tend to let go off night trips, if they are required to undertake it alone

• Women are more price sensitive than men (GIZ)

a public transit, if they perceive the trip to be unsafe, expensive

and unreliable (World Bank)

Gender Mainstreaming Tools

• Gender Disaggregated Data Collection- Effective as a management tool to review effectiveness of a

policy or a plan, to establish patterns in the allocation of resources, monitor performance.

• Gender Impact Assessments- Useful for assessment in advance the impact of any proposal on men

and women respectively and to address undesirable differences that may be anticipated.

• Monitoring, Evaluating and Auditing- Acts as an indicator and very useful for evaluation purposes

• Gender Balance in Decision- making- Necessary to address the democratic principle of gender

mainstreaming.

• Engendering Budgets- Developed in Canada, Sweden and Norway, the tool helps to ensure that

resources are directed strategically and equitably.

• Visioning- Most difficult element of mainstreaming. It seeks to understand and address how the existing

practice and institutional arrangements, however subconsciously, disadvantage more women than men.Source- World Bank. Toolkit on Mainstreaming Gender Equality

in EC Development Cooperation. Paris: World Bank, 2006.

Practices Adopted to bring about Gender Mainstreaming

• Preparation of Gender Mainstreaming Acts, Policies and PlansPolicy Level

• Gender Sensitization among male employees

• Training and Recruitment of Women as EmployeesOperator Level

Source- TRANSGEN, Gender Mainstreaming European Transport Research Policies. Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen, 2007

GIZ. Gender and Urban Transport: Smart and Affordable Module 7a. Germany: Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2007

UN Habitat, Gender Equality for Smarter Cities. Nairobi: UN Human Settlements Programme, 2010

• Training and Recruitment of Women as Employees

• Representation of Women at the decision- making levelOperator Level

• Safety Measure- Police Patrolling, Installation of CCTVs, Improved Lighting, Restricted boarding, Helplines

• Accessibility Measure- Improved Pedestrian Infrastructure, Quality Feeder Services

• Economic Measure- Special Passes and off- peak hour discounts

• Service Measure- Service Re- scheduling, Reservation of Seats, Women- only Services, Night Services

User Level

Practices Adopted Worldwide- Adopt a Light Project (Nairobi)

• ‘Adopt a Light Limited,’ a public- private partnership was incorporated to steer advertising revenues into

community development

• The company’s mission is to improve the quality of people’s lives by ensuring that public spaces – slums,

streets, parks, neighbourhoods etc. - remain well lit after sunset

• ALL has erected over 3000 street lights along 50 streets covering an estimated 150 km of roads used by

millions of motorists and pedestrians daily. It has erected 33 high mast lights in several slums serving over

150,000 households or an approximate population of 500,000 persons in Nairobi

The major impact of the project was that it

helped to improve safety and security in 150,000 households or an approximate population of 500,000 persons in Nairobi

• The major impact of this project are as follows:i. Security in the slums has improved, crime reduced - fewer breaking-ins, muggings, harassment of women and

children, and rape.

ii. Environment for conduct of business particularly for the micro and small enterprises in slums has improved.

iii. Has improved road safety reducing accidents particularly those involving pedestrians and cyclists.

iv. By financing lighting infrastructure and paying bills for lighting (in excess of US dollars 6.0 million), the project

has saved the City Council money allowing the local authority to focus on other areas of need such as

education, health and garbage collection.

Source: Adopt a Light Limited. Report on Best Practice. Submission for Habitat Business Award for Sustainable Urbanization. Nairobi: Adopt a Light Limited, 2009.

helped to improve safety and security in

slums by reducing road accidents and

criminal activities

Practices Adopted Worldwide- In Between Stops (Montreal)

• In Montreal, fear of violence had reduced night use of public transportation by women.

• The Comite d’Action Femmes et Securite Urbaine (CAFSU) had thus been actively promoting ways to

increase women’s sense of security in and access to the urban environment- specifically by instituting in

1996 the “Between Two Stops” service, which allows women to get off the bus at night in between

scheduled bus stops at a location closer to their destination

• The programme managed to establish strategic partnerships between local authorities, women’s

organizations, and girls and women utilizing public transportation

The major impact of the project was that it

helped to increase security during night organizations, and girls and women utilizing public transportation

• Success was achieved by recognizing the specific needs of women in the overall allocation of public

resources and creating a low cost strategic policy that transformed the economic and social lives of

women.

• This programme generated an increase in ridership as well as more security for all other users.

• The service has been promoted as the ‘Women in City’ programme by the UN Habitat

Source- GIZ. “Gender and Urban Transport: Smart and Affordable.” 2007.

helped to increase security during night

time, thus resulting in an overall increase in

public transport ridership

Practices Adopted Worldwide- Camino Imaginado (Bogota)

• The Camino Imaginado or the Imagined Path Programme was an initiative of the Architects of the

Department of Public Spaces of the Urban Development (DPSUD), Institute of Bogota

• The programme was born out of a simple idea among some students to ‘go to school without mud in the

shoes’

• The Defense of Public Space (DPS) office was created to recover space that had been illegally occupied,

and space for pedestrians was substantially renovated through improvements in sidewalks, traffic signals,

lighting, and the planting of trees.

The major impact of the project was that it not

only helped to improve pedestrian safety,

and increased the usage of public lighting, and the planting of trees.

• This included the recovery of 338,297 square meters, and the construction of 147,000 square meters, of

space under bridges (these spaces previously had been badly planned and inhospitable) and 432,000

square meters of sidewalks — a total of approximately 917,000 square meters of public space

• The paved greenways called alamedas run adjacent to unpaved roads and lead to the Trans Milenio

stations, thus showing that pedestrians were more important than automobiles

Source- Montezuma, Ricardo. “The Transformation of Bogota, Colombia, 1995- 2000: Investing in Citizenship and Urban Mobility.” Global

Urban development Magazine 1.1 (2005). 19 March 2014. <http://www.globalurban.org/Issue1PIMag05/Montezuma%20article.htm>

GIZ. “Gender and Urban Transport: Smart and Affordable.” 2007.

and increased the usage of public

transportation but also resulted in an over-

all improvement of the environment

Objectives of the Research

• To articulate the importance of gender mainstreaming of a transport system

• To evaluate the factors that hinders gender mainstreaming of a city’s public transportation

system

Scope and Limitations of the Research

• The study is an effort to understand the gender mainstreaming factors and process and

does not try to prove that Ahmedabad Janmarg is gender biased

• The study tries to bring about substantive gender equality rather than formal equality

• The study focuses only on the existing BRT service and its captive riders.

Research Methodology

Literature Review

• Importance of Gender Mainstreaming

• Tools used for achieving gender mainstreaming

• Factors that hinder the process of gender mainstreaming

Pilot Survey

• Conducted at Nehrunagar BRTS Bus Stop

• Gender Disaggregated Footfall Count (Weekday and Weekend included for the entire BRT operating hours)

• Commuter Survey (Sample Size- 3% of average daily ticket sale; Sampling Method- Equally Distributed Stratified Random Sampling)

• Ward- Ambavadi• 3 of the Top 6 BRT Bus stops with highest Boarding are located in this ward;

• Helped to identify factors like travel behaviour, public transport usage, safety and security, and affordability

that hinder the process of gender mainstreaming

• Collected gender disaggregated data on the identified factors and any other issues observed during the survey

Study Area Selection

• BRTS Bus Stations- Manek Baug, Nehrunagar, Jhansi ki Rani, Shivranjani, Andhajan Mandal, Himmatlal Park, University, Memnagar

Data Collection

• Gender Disaggregated Footfall Count at the selected BRTS Stops to analyse the gender share

• Commuter Survey at the selected BRTS Bus Stops (Sample Size- 3% of average daily ticket sale; Sampling Method- Equally Distributed Stratified Random Sampling)

Data

Analysis

• Evaluation of the Safety, Accessibility, Reliability and Economic factors which act as a hindrance to gender mainstreaming

of a public transit system

• Which factor is given major priority by women and men when they decide to use a public transit system?

• Does the perception of ‘feeling safe and secured’ play a major role in the usage of a public transit system?

• What makes one feel ‘safe and secured’?

• Does quality pedestrian infrastructure help to gender mainstream a public transit system?

• How important is the role of fare and travel information in gender mainstreaming a public transit system?

• 3 of the Top 6 BRT Bus stops with highest Boarding are located in this ward;

• The ward has predominance of institutional and residential land use;

• Located in close proximity to commercial area and lower income residential zoneBus Stops setup in the first phase of BRTS

• Collected gender disaggregated data on the identified factors and any other issues observed during the survey

process that might probably hinder gender mainstreaming of AJL

• Evaluated that observations made worldwide related to travel behaviour, public transport usage, safety and

security and affordability remained same for the case study area

• Identification of issues that hinder gender mainstreaming of AJL on the basis of the following categories: safety

and security, physical accessibility, economic accessibility, information accessibility and staff PR skills

• Provide recommendations for the identified categories and the institution involved in addressing the issue

Ahmedabad

• AMC Population: 5.57 million

• Area:- 466 sq. km

Ahmedabad city region accounts for:

• 20 % of the States’ urban population;

• 20% of the State’s GDP;

Network Length:- 2398 km

Ring and Radial type of network

4 rings and 16 radial

Trip Rate:- 1.44

Motorized rate: 0.86

Trip Length:- 8.7km

Total Number of trips:- 7.98 million• 20% of the State’s GDP;

• 14% of the total investments in all stock

exchanges in India;

• 60% of the total productivity of the state

and

• 22% of factories in the state employing

18% of workers Source : Integrated Transit Lab, Third

Semester, Faculty of Planning, CEPT University,

2013

Total Number of trips:- 7.98 million

Public Transit mode share:-12%

4 Types of Public Transit Mode Operate

within the City:

i. Indian Railways

ii. GSRTC

iii. BRTS

iv. AMTS

Ahmedabad Janmarg

• 217 kms of Planned Corridor,

but presently 86 kms is under

operation

• 127 operational Bus Stations

• Fleet Size- 147 (AC + Non- AC)

• 9 operational BRT Routes

• RTO- Naroda

Ambawadi

• RTO- Naroda

• RTO- Maninagar

• Bopal- Maninagar

• Chandkheda- L.D.

Engineering College

• RTO- L.D. Engineering

College- Kalupur

• Naroda- Townhall

• Anjali- Naroda

• Narol- Naroda

• Science City- OdhavSource : Integrated Transit Lab, Third

Semester, Faculty of Planning, CEPT University,

2013 Source : AJL, 2014

Ambawadi Ward Profile

Ward No.- 26

Area- 6.33 sq. km

Population- 93, 300

Population Density- 14739 persons/ sq. km

• Located on the western side of Sabarmati River

Since 2011Prior to 2011

Gandhigram

Source- APL, Ambawadi Group 2, 2013, Faculty of Planning, CEPT University

Ambawadi

Navrangpu

ra

Paldi

Vasna

Vejalpur

Bodakdev

Jodhpur

S. P. Stadium

• The ward has been newly formed in the year 2011, after

disaggregation of 2 wards, namely, Gandhigram and Vasna

Vasna

Ambawadi

Ambawadi Ward Profile- Land Use

• The ward has predominance of

institutional and residential land

use

• Inspite of only 4% of land use

being under commercial use, the

ward is located in close proximity

to major commercial areas of the

city like Shivranjani, Primal

Garden

Source- APL, Ambawadi Group 2, 2013, Faculty of Planning, CEPT

University

Garden

ShivranjaniParimal

Garden

Ambawadi Ward Profile- Road & Public Transport Network

• Two of the major ring roads of Ahmedabad, the 120’ Ring Road and the

132’ Ring Road passes through this ward

• Numerous sub- arterials, radially connect these two major arterials

• The ward has been part of the first phase of

BRT corridor development

• 5 BRT routes pass through the ward120’ Ring Road

132’ Ring Road

BRT Corridor

LD Engineering

College

Gulbai Tekra

Panjrapol Char Rasta

Himmatlal Park

Andhajan Mandal

University

Memnagar

Source- APL, Ambawadi Group 2, 2013, Faculty of Planning, CEPT University

• The AMTS also caters to the public transport

need of the ward

AJL, 2014

BRT Corridor

BRT Station

RTO- Maninagar

RTO- Naroda

Bopal- Maninagar

Chandkheda- LD Engineering College

RTO- LD Engineering College- Kalupur

AMTS Stop

Panjrapol Char Rasta

L Colony

Manek Baug

NehrunagarJhansi

ki Rani

Shivranjani

Data Collection Procedure

Himmatlal Park

Andhajan Mandal

University

Memnagar

BRT Corridor

• Gender disaggregated footfall count had been undertaken at 8

BRT stations setup in the first phase of BRT development

• The footfall count had been undertaken for a weekday and a

weekend at each station for the entire BRT operating hours

• Commuter surveys were undertaken at 4 BRT stations on

weekdays:� Nehrunagar- Commercial and Institutional zone

� Jhansi ki Rani- A major GSRTC stop

LD Engineering

College

Gulbai Tekra

Panjrapol

Manek Baug

Jhansi

ki Rani

ShivranjaniBRT Corridor

BRT Station


� Manek Baug and Himmatlal Park- Residential zone

• Equally distributed stratified random sampling have had been

undertaken at each of these 4 stations

• The sample size collected was 3% of the average daily ticket sale

at each of these stations

• A total of 200 samples have been collected

Source-APL, Ambawadi Group 2, 2013, Faculty of Planning, CEPT University

AJL, 2014

Panjrapol

Char Rasta

L Colony

Nehrunagar

Data Collection Procedure

Himmatlal Park

Andhajan Mandal

University

Memnagar

BRT Corridor

• Gender disaggregated footfall count had been undertaken at 8

BRT stations setup in the first phase of BRT development

• The footfall count had been undertaken for a weekday and a

weekend at each station for the entire BRT operating hours

• Commuter surveys were undertaken at 4 BRT stations:� Nehrunagar- Commercial and Institutional


LD Engineering

College

Gulbai Tekra

Panjrapol

Gender Male Female

TotalAge Groups

(in yrs)<15 15- 29 30- 44 45- 60 >60 <15 15- 29 30- 44 45- 60 >60

Himmatlal

Park4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 40

Manek Baug

Jhansi

ki Rani

ShivranjaniBRT Corridor

BRT Station


� Manek Baug and Himmatlal Park- Residential

• Equally distributed stratified random sampling have had been

undertaken at each of these 4 stations

• The sample size collected was 3% of the average daily ticket sale

at each of these stations

Source-

APL, Ambawadi Group 2, 2013, Faculty of Planning, CEPT University

AJL, 2014

Panjrapol

Char Rasta

L Colony

Nehrunagar

BR

T S

tati

on

s Jhansi ki Rani 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 30

Nehrunagar 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 80

Manek Baug 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 50

Total 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 200

Data Analysis Procedure

Gender share of Ahmedabad Janmarg

Differences in basic trip characteristics that occur in between the two gender

Validation of issues identified in the literature review

Travel behaviour & BRT usage Safety concerns Affordability

Type of safety concern

Time of the day

Strategies adopted

Over- all issues identified by the female commuters of Ahmedabad Janmarg

Classification of the issues into various categories: safety, accessibility & staff behaviour

Identification of the kind of problem that occur at the various stages of a trip & the institutions involved

Recommendations to be undertaken by the various institutions in order to bring about gender mainstreaming

Gender Share

• Gender share is the number of females per 100 commuters

using a public transport mode

• The Gender share for BRT stations in Ambawadi as a whole

is 33.31

• It varies from 37.95 at Andhajan Mandal to 29.04 at

Shivranjani.

BRT Corridor

Himmatlal

Park

Andhajan

Mandal

University

Memnagar

69

%

31

%

65

%

35

%

62

%

38

%

65

%

35

%

33

• The stations Manek Baug, Nehrunagar and Andhajan

Mandal have gender share of above 35, while Jhansi ki Rani,

Himmatlal Park, University and Memnagar have gender

share varying between 30- 35

Source- Primary Survey, 2014

BRT Corridor

BRT Station

Manek

Baug

Nehrunagar

Jhansi

ki RaniShivranjani

%

71

%

29

%

67

%

33

%

63

%

37

%

63

%

37

%

Characteristics of the Commuters- Trip Purpose

Males Females

• Majority of the male commuters of BRT use the service for attending to their compulsory trips

• Higher percentage of female commuters of BRT are involved in non- compulsory trips


Characteristics of the Commuters- Frequency of Usage of BRT

Males Females

• The percentage of daily commuters of BRT is higher for the male commuters in comparison to

the female commuters, which may be attributed to their compulsory trip purposes


Characteristics of the Commuters- Access and Egress Mode

Males Females

• Majority of the women prefer to walk the first/ last leg of their trip in comparison to their male

counterparts

• Female also depend on cheaper modes like shuttle autorickshaws for the first/ last leg of their trip

• Unlike male commuters, 11% of the female commuters are dropped at/ picked up from the BRT stationsSource- Primary Survey, 2014

Characteristics of the Commuters- Access and Egress Time

Males Females

• Nearly 90% female commuters who use BRT are able to access the BRT stations within a time

span of 10 minutes from their origin/ destination using various modes


Travel Behaviour & Use of BRT

• Higher percentage of women

travel during the off- peak hours

• In comparison to men, higher

percentage of women have been

victims of pickpocketing and

sexual harassment in over-

crowded buses


Safety Concerns- Safety on Roads

• Safety on roads in terms of

crossing the road to access a bus

station is a major concern to the

women

• Women are highly concerned

about their personal safety

• 90% of women feel that the city

is unsafe after sunset

Safety Concerns- Personal SafetySafety Concerns- Time of the DaySafety Concerns- Travel in GroupsSafety Concerns- Strategy Adopted to feel safe

is unsafe after sunset

• Of the 90% of women who feel

that the city is unsafe at night,

prefer to travel in groups or have

someone in company while they

are travelling

• Women also prefer to take

longer routes if an area is

desolated, dark or poorly lit Source- Primary Survey, 2014

Affordability

• The overall travelling cost is high for the lower income group of people, especially the daily wage earners

like the construction workers, ayah’s, housekeepers due to lack of safe, reliable and cheap feeder service

• The overall travelling cost for BRT users is also a concern for the college and university students and the

elderlies, who are the dependent population

• The travelling cost in BRT is high when one travels in group• The travelling cost in BRT is high when one travels in group

• Majority of the women who have to use autorickshaws or AMTS for the last leg of their trip, prefer to let go

off their trip if the trip concerned would be made after 10:30 pm due to empty AMTS buses and high auto

charges


Factors that Deter a Woman Commuter from Using Ahmedabad Janmarg

Pickpocketing inside buses

Sexual Harassment in public spaces

Inability to swiftly cross the road Lack of footpath to walk

Lack of well integrated feeder

service

Non- functioning display boards

Incorrect travel information

Rude behaviour of BRT staff

No BRT route maps

High waiting time

Poorly lit streets and street edges

Desolated neighbourhoods High BRT fare

High overall travelling cost

Non- functioning display boards

Lack of bus schedule

Rash driving of BRT buses

Buses do not stop at designated

stations, especially after 10:30 pm

Low frequency of buses on

particular routes, especially during

off- peak hours

Poor signages

Over- crowding

Poor traffic management at

pedestrian crossings


Where do All the Issues Lie???

WalkOrigin Foot

path

BRT Station 1 BRT Station 2 Walk Destin-

-ation

Foot

path

Pre- BRT Trip Post- BRT TripRoad Crossing Road CrossingBRT Trip

1 122 3

1

2

3

Planning & Infrastructure

Issues

Enforcement Issues

Planning, Operation, Infrastructure

& Enforcement Issues

• Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority

• Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation

• Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited

• Ahmedabad Traffic Police



Safety and Security Recommendations

• Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority� Provision of mixed uses along the BRT corridors


� Installation of traffic signals near BRT stations for providing higher priority to pedestrians

� Recruitment of traffic personnel near BRT stations for providing higher priority to pedestrians


� Provision of bright street lights along all roads and their regular maintenance




� Restrict passenger boarding a bus beyond a certain limit in order to avoid overcrowding by

recruiting security personnel within buses or at every station

� Install cameras in every BRT bus and BRT station

� Re- schedule buses to cater to the peak hour needs

� Setup bus stations near mixed use zones

� Run women- only busesA common measure, but this measure is

against the principle of gender mainstreaming

Physical Accessibility Recommendations


� Provision of bright street lights along all roads and their regular maintenance

� Provision of well- paved wide, well lit footpaths along all major and minor roads


� Installation of traffic signals near BRT stations for providing higher priority to pedestrians


Impose strict restrictions on any form of encroachment of footpath� Impose strict restrictions on any form of encroachment of footpath


� Scheduling of BRT buses in co- ordination with AMTS and GSRTC buses, i.e. transportation mode

integrationWould help in pre- planning of trips, but only possible if

information regarding bus schedule of all the stated modes at all

the stations is made available in the public domain

Economic Accessibility Recommendations


� Expanding the benefits of student passes to that to college and university students too

� Provision of women passes and off- peak hour travel discounts on BRT

Information Accessibility Recommendations


� Provision of bus schedules and maps to the general public to facilitate trip planning

� Display information on the PIS regarding the exact arrival timings of a bus on a particular

route at the stations

� Display of important information like- the time for the first and last sale of ticket at every

station, the BRT route map, the platform number and the routes that it caters to (for stations serving

multiple routes), customer service number at every BRT station

Other Recommendations


� Regular gender sensitization training of staff

� Conducting periodic gender sensitizing drills for commuters

The safety and security measures and the gender The safety and security measures and the gender

sensitizing recommendations are the first and most

important steps towards gender mainstreaming of

Ahmedabad’s Janmarg

Future Scope of the Study

• A study needs to be undertaken that would involve the studying of the operators, the

planners, and the understanding of the policies and laws of the country

• The study must involve all the modes of a city

• Disaggregated data collection must be undertaken on the basis of age and economic

status too and if cultural differences are prominent in a city, then that too must be taken

into account

Thank YouThank You

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