At last week’s Rose Café, GRF Seema Singh shared her work on the study of gender and mobility, with an emphasis on the context of the developing world. Prior to attending, I was unfamiliar with the topic, so I’m glad that I had the opportunity to learn about the process of planning urban transport and the primary challenges of crafting policies in this department. The discussion was thought-provoking, and there were interesting comments and ideas going around the room.

We mainly discussed the situation of transportation in India. As cities develop and expand, transport grows extremely overcrowded and streets become clogged and difficult to navigate. Competition between private and public transportation ensues, and problems such as noise pollution are created.

The overcrowding of transportation also has a large impact on women, partly due to their “assigned” positions in society. Generally, men are expected to work and earn money, while women take care of the house and the family. Thus, women often travel to multiple points throughout the day, for example, dropping children off at school and buying groceries, compared to simply traveling to the workplace and back. Additionally, when families own a car, it will be available to the men more often then it will be available to the women.

Sexual harassment is a large concern for women traveling throughout urban areas. Reserved spaces for women only, such as designated train cars or pink vehicles piloted by women, address safety concerns and have inspired more women to travel using city transportation. However, these safe spaces only present a short-term solution to a more complicated problem.