In celebration of International Women’s Day, IBTTA’s Women in Tolling Council hosted a discussion on 8 March 2023 on the impact of transportation on women across the world. More specifically, the webinar focused on the investments and policies directed at providing and ensuring equity in transportation for women, and on reviewing the current state of equity in this area for women both in the US and internationally. 

The panel was composed of women experts in the fields of transportation and equity, including IRF Director General, Susanna Zammataro, Diana Mendes (AICP Corporate President and Director of Equity in Transportation) and moderator Joi Dean (Executive Director, Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority). 

Ms Zammataro stressed the role that data plays in creating equitable transportation solutions and its importance in order to get out of stereotyped and generic conversations. Data helps us identify the specific challenges that women face to access transport (including their safety) and their different mobility patterns. It helps identify trends and patterns, and evaluate the effectiveness of potential solutions. Without data, policies and solutions can be based on assumptions, personal opinions, or anecdotal evidence, which can lead to ineffective outcomes. 

The panel discussed the different transportation planning, policy and management approaches that are currently used to address equity, and their barriers. It addressed the challenges that the implementation of these policies face nowadays, such as the lack of understanding and cultural bias; the slow pace of change and the lack of clear guidance. To this effect, it was stressed that it’s critical to share knowledge around positive examples and various tools that do exist and can help. Reference was made to the ITF Gender Analysis Toolkit for Transport, a hands-on, easy-to-use method for incorporating a gender-inclusive perspective into transport projects, plans and policies.  

Ms Zammataro also announced the imminent release of a new piece of work from the Sustainable Mobility for All (SuM4All) working group on gender titled “Working Women in Transport: A Toolkit for Change”. The report will be launched end of May in Leipzig, in conjunction with the ITF Annual Summit. 

Recording of the webinar is accessible here: https://www.ibtta.org/content/ensuring-equity-transportation.