CAF Promotes Gender Perspective in Mobility and Transport
So far, urban mobility planning has been carried out by prioritizing systems based on a hegemonic masculinity model, favoring linear commuting and private motorized vehicles. These mobility systems have not taken into account the links between various daily activities that create complex travel networks, nor links with the environment, thus contributing to an environmental, energy and healthcare crisis at a global level.
At the same time, data indicate that women in Latin America are mobile on a more sustainable basis, since they get around on foot or by public transport to a greater degree than men do. Specifically, in the city of Buenos Aires, 51.1% of women’s daily trips are made by public transport and 28.4% on foot. Also, if we add the use of bicycles into the equation, 80% of women move around sustainably, compared to 67.5% of men.
Along these lines, CAF’s methodological guide proposes to move towards a change in the mobility paradigm, favoring a model focused on people’s daily lives, and which values and puts women’s and other gender identities’ sustainable mobility patterns at the center, prioritizing transport on foot, by bicycle and public transport, not only because they are more sustainable and healthy travel habits, but also because they are more equitable.
The objective of the publication is, therefore, to provide concepts and tools for analysis, application, evaluation and monitoring to integrate the gender perspective into mobility and transport systems. It is structured in accordance with the various steps to be taken in planning for mobility with a gender perspective.
“By incorporating women into decision-making and operating processes, we will also have a richer view of their needs and we’ll soften this system a little, which in some cases still follows an older paradigm, and does not take us into account when considering our needs,” said Lucila Capelli, Under-secretary of Mobility Planning of the city of Buenos Aires.
Specifically, the inclusion of the gender perspective in mobility planning means progress in three areas: First, ensuring a complete and comprehensive vision of everyday mobility; second, broadening the concept of mobility safety, addressing violence against women and differentiated safety perceptions; and third, moving towards gender equity and having more women involved in transport planning, design and management.
In this regard, CAF’s Vice President of Infrastructure, Antonio Pinheiro Silveira, stressed that: “CAF’s purpose in promoting this guide is to encourage inclusion of the gender perspective in the mobility and transport sector, through the application of practical tools for planning, design and implementation of urban mobility interventions that consider the different needs of women, men, girls and boys, with a focus on people’s daily mobility.”.
The guide proposes 5 qualities that gender-based mobility should address, namely:
This publication is another example of CAF’s commitment to producing and disseminating knowledge about best practices in order to identify public policy instruments that promote gender inclusion and equity within sustainable transport policies.
It should be noted that CAF has evolved in its regional strategy on mobility in accordance with the new global and regional paradigms. In this regard, development banking increasingly focuses its interest on users, beyond issues relating to transport and/or infrastructure. Through this approach , the institution has promoted various urban mobility programs over the last decade that contribute to improving accessibility and connectivity in Latin American cities with a focus on inclusion and social equity.
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