In general, women move differently from men in cities: they tend to make shorter, closer trips and for health reasons, while men travel longer distances and for work. But public transport networks have always been designed with a male perspective. To change this landscape, almost six years ago arose Women on the move, a network promoting female leadership in mobility and cities. One of its founders is Paola Tapia (Viña del Mar, Chile; 47 years old), who was the first Minister of Transport in Chile and now manages the metropolitan buses of Santiago de Chile, where she applies a gender perspective and is committed to speeding up electrification of the fleet Attend EL PAÍS in Barcelona during the UITP congress.
Ask. How many buses do you operate?
Answer. In the metropolitan region, which brings together 34 municipalities and about seven million inhabitants, 6,500 buses from seven companies are in circulation. The main challenge is to consolidate electric mobility, which is why six years ago we were among the first in Latin America to introduce electric buses and we already have 1,900 of them, or almost a third of the fleet. [por comparar, Madrid tiene 205 de 2.110 y Barcelona, 78 de 1.054]. We have 24 bus charging terminals, half of which we had to implement in the last year. We are the capital outside of China with the most electric buses, so we are a benchmark and we want to keep moving forward.
Q. Why did you found Women on the Move?
R. The theme of gender and mobility strikes us a lot, especially in Latin American capitals. There is a study by the CAF Latin American Development Bank that says so nine out of ten women have experienced harassment on public transport in Santiago, and these are figures that can also be found in other cities. If we add to this the care trips that women take, we have a mobility that we had to take care of. In Chile we developed the first mobility and gender policy in 2018 as something visionary. With this reality, also experienced in other countries, we have created Mujeres en Movimiento, which promotes a leadership program for Latin American women and the whole world.
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Q. WhatWhat is the utility of the gender approach in mobility?
R. First of all, we could make a distinction between the user’s approach and the work’s approach. I was the first female minister in the sector, which explains the male bias that exists in transport. In 2013 in Chile we had 1% female drivers in the public transport system, and we increased that number and this last year alone we grew 25% with a specific program: today there are 7% female drivers. What is it for, besides equality? One, safer driving, because women have fewer accidents; two, women have more empathy with the user, which makes the travel experience different; and three, they have a better work environment. And they also have economic autonomy for mothers of families.
Q. And for users?
R. In this it is essential to talk about the fact that the numbers of harassment and violence on public transport are very high, and for us it is a priority to stop them. We do visibility campaigns, you never have to hide it. And you need to work with companies and drivers so that there are clear protocols for care and reporting and monitoring. The worst that can happen is that a victim of harassment dares to report it and that the person who committed it does not receive the corresponding penalty. We have rather strict legislation, but the mechanisms for accrediting behavior must work. Therefore, the operation of the cameras on board the buses and the prompt and timely reporting of the driver are essential in order to be able to prosecute liability. Additionally, we’ve created a program for safe, accessible stops with a panic button to alert you if a nuisance situation arises.
Q. Are these experiences shared with other countries?
R. Yes. At Mujeres en movimiento we are more than 300 members and we share good practices among ourselves. Also, from the list of metropolitan public transport [la entidad que ella misma dirige] we just created the first one International Observatory of Gender and Mobility which includes Buenos Aires, Lima, Bogota, Mexico City, La Paz and Santiago de Chile. This observatory has two axes: sharing good practices in this sector and generating indicators to measure progress in each capital.
Q. Do women move like men?
R. No, women move differently. In Santiago, 65% of women make care trips, which have to do with taking care of another, taking care of children, transporting minors or people with disabilities… These trips are quite short, during daylight hours , and in them the journey experience is very important. However, a similar percentage of men move for work reasons, whose journeys are generally straight and long, while women move in real networks. These are similar figures to those of other cities. In Chile we conducted a survey and saw that two out of three women who have experienced harassment on public transport stop using it. We need to ensure these assistance trips and that mobility is safe.
Q. How can this mobility of care be helped?
R. The tariff integration, ie you pay a ticket and is used to make trips on various means of transport for one or two hours, favors assistance mobility. Services with fixed itineraries, the placement of security cameras on buses and stops, and night services also help. All this contributes to creating a climate of safe and accessible mobility.
Q. How evident is it that most transportation networks were designed by men?
R. Transportation planning is often designed according to the standard of the tall, agile European man who does not need universal accessibility or other variables to make a safe journey. This has often left women in the background, even preventing them from moving. In Chile, 80% of those who care for a person with a disability are women, and many times they are deprived of leaving their homes because they do not have safe and accessible public mobility nearby. This blow that the city gives to women is something we need to change. It does not only involve adults, but also girls and adolescents, who may suffer harassment, and the elderly, who also need to continue occupying public space and are not always accessible.
Q. Is giving preference to the car also a male vision?
R. Absolutely. In Chile, those who have the most driving licenses are men, who also own cars. If you go to a meeting at noon and there are only women, they clamor for a public transport service, because without it they have no mobility (many times they don’t have a car or don’t know how to drive).
Q. How to adapt public transport to this female mobility?
R. With a global approach. In Chile they use public transport more (52% of travelers are women), but they must do it safely. The challenges have to do with new technologies, but also with an infrastructure and service adapted to their needs, and also to reduce road accidents. Electric buses, less polluting and noisy, improve the travel experience, also for women, and the driving experience of female drivers.
Q. How important are cycleways for women?
R. Very. I cycle to work and prefer a separate lane to a restricted traffic area. We have favored the existence of cycle paths or separate cycle paths, even if it takes time. It is a priority for the government.
R. What changes a transport network when it is run by a woman?
R. We have created a program called Network Creation in which we look for line extensions, stop changes and different infrastructures that women ask us for. It is a vision shared by the Minister of Transport, Juan Carlos Muñoz, who has a very clear vision on the issue of gender. Together we have developed this vision that public transport today has the face of a woman because she approaches the field, because she listens to these women and their needs. Many times the women who are not seen are those who live in the suburbs, who earn a minimum salary, who take care of their children… This is why we need to have a vision of territorial equity and that electric buses don’t arrive alone in the area richer eastern region, but also to the western area of our country, which is more backward economically.
Q. WhatIs there a shortage of women working in public transport?
R. It is always necessary to have more women. For this reason, Mujeres en Movimiento takes care of training them, imparting them leadership and strategic communication actions and preparing them to face challenges. In these six years we have trained women who today hold political offices with a different gaze and a woman’s face.
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