Gendered Innovations, a Stanford University project devoted to gender analysis, has revealed that miscategorization has obscured the fact that women ride public transit much more than previously believed, and much more than men.
In the United States women 'chain-trip' much more frequently than men do, and these extended patterns of use are often lost in current data collection methods. "When both partners in a marriage work, women are twice as likely as men to trip-chain a child care task during their commute, and when the couple has a child under five, the amount of trip-chaining - and thus transport burden on women - increases."
Eric Jaffe explains that "once a transit system knows that 'care' trips make up a sizable proportion of daily travel, it can improve its facilities to accommodate these users - replacing stairs with ramps, widening aisles or gates, and raising platforms to train level, for instance, to aid women with strollers and bags. A recognition of the practice of trip-chaining can help designers plan system extensions of transit lines into areas high in care-related sites, like schools and parks. Systems can also conduct what the researchers call "gender audits" to evaluate their ability to meet the transport needs of female riders."
FULL STORY: Public Transportation's Hidden Gender Imbalance
APTA Requests CDL Testing Change to Address Bus Operator Shortage
Eighty-four percent of U.S. transit agencies surveyed said CDL complexity was a hiring obstacle, with the “under-the-hood” requirement being the most challenging.
Cincinnati Seeks to Repurpose Its Unused Subway Tunnel
City officials are looking for proposals to use Cincinnati's long-abandoned subway tunnels, but not for transit; they already tried that.
Officials Kill St. Paul Streetcar, BRT Proposals
The proposed transit lines would have linked the St. Paul airport, downtown, and the Mall of America.
What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.
USDOT Revokes Approval for NYC Congestion Pricing
Despite the administration’s stated concern for the “working class,” 85 percent of Manhattan commuters use public transit to enter the city.
Tiny House Villages for Addressing Homelessness: An Interview with Yetimoni Kpeebi
One researcher's perspective on the potential of tiny homes and owner-built housing as one tool to fight the housing crisis.
Preserving Altadena’s Trees: A Community Effort to Save a Fire-Damaged Landscape
In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena Green is working to preserve fire-damaged but recoverable trees, advocating for better assessment processes, educating homeowners, and protecting the community’s urban canopy from unnecessary removal.
The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan
Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.
Investigation Reveals Just How Badly California’s Homeless Shelters are Failing
Fraud, violence, death, and chaos follow a billion dollar investment in a temporary solution that is proving ineffective.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research