Understanding the constraints to women’s use of urban public transport in developing countries

Women and men travel differently in low- and middle-income countries. This paper provides an overview of the evidence on key features of women’s travel behavior and the barriers they face in accessing public transport in developing countries, including affordability, frequency, coverage, comfort, and safety. Women make more frequent, shorter trips with more stops along the way to combine multiple tasks. In contrast, men follow direct and linear routes. As this paper shows, the cost and frequency of public transport affect women more than men, and given women’s income constraints, create trade-offs between travel and other economic opportunities. This paper also highlights how the current design of public transport does not accommodate the unique needs of women. Notably, coverage issues such as a poorly connected network, including last-mile problems, limit women’s use of public transport and increase their reliance on private and informal modes of transport. Infrastructure design does not prioritize women’s comfort. Women’s perceptions about violence and their actual safety in public spaces affects their physical mobility and economic choices. Understanding the evidence on the challenges faced by women is a first step in identifying policies and interventions that could improve women’s mobility.