Creating Inclusive Public Transport – Addressing Gender Based Harassment Experiences and Improvement Opportunities

Abstract

In the international transport planning community, there is a growing realisation that the design and implementation of infrastructure and services can no longer be approached from a male only perspective. The needs of women, children, the elderly, and people with disability, must be considered to create an inclusive system. This is also the case for the provision of public transport services. It is well documented that globally women rely on public transport services to access education, health and employment opportunities, especially lower income women. Fewer women than men own a motorised vehicle or have a licence to drive one (Bates, 2015; Allen and Vanderschuren, 2016). In the African context, few formal public transport services remain, and these are mostly bus services. Informal systems, sometimes called popular or paratransit minibus systems, have stepped in to fill this gap. Motorcycle taxis are also widely used. Most public transport trips are made on a combination of these modes, which are especially used by women. Harassment in formal and informal public transport is an international phenomenon (Elsherif and Belding, 2015). This paper describes gender-based harassment case studies and intervention opportunities, investigating the usefulness of the SHE-CAN tool in addressing gender-based harassment.