TRANSPORT AND WOMEN S SAFETY. Re-thinking women s safety in the growing intermediate public transportation sector.

Transcription

1 TRANSPORT AND WOMEN S SAFETY Re-thinking women s safety in the growing intermediate pubic transportation sector. APRIL 2015

2 Report by: Zainab Kaka Jyot Chadha Photo Credits: Benoit Coin Kshiraja Krishnan A Product of The WRI Ross Center for Sustainabe Cities Copyright 2015 EMBARQ. This work is icensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercia-NoDerivative Works 3.0 License. To view a copy of the icense, visit

3 INTRODUCTION In India where 5.5 miion women enter the workforce each year, more than 50% express high concerns about the safety of their commute. Source: Thomas Reuters Foundation, 2014 Mobiity in cities is increasingy being transformed by technoogyenabed shared mobiity companies operating in the taxi, autorickshaw, ride-share, car poo, and empoyee transport space. Harassment and sexua vioence is a common experience for women and girs in pubic spaces around the word. Bruta acts of vioence in India towards women on pubic transport and in taxis have brought the issue of safety to the forefront. Safe trave is critica to enabe women and girs to access education, jobs, and heathcare. However, this remains a much-negected area with itte data and few aws, poicies, and initiatives to prevent and address it. Mobiity in cities is increasingy being transformed by technoogy-enabed shared mobiity companies operating in the taxi, auto-rickshaw, ride-share, car poo, and empoyee transport space. Given its growing importance, EMBARQ India conducted a workshop in Bengauru in March 2015 to convene mobiity companies, city authorities, and reguators. The workshop was the first of its kind as it brought together stakehoders that are unikey to meet and exchange ideas.

4 THE INTERVENTION WOMEN CUSTOMERS Women are an important target customer for companies, reguators and agencies in transport. NEW BUSINESS MODELS Technoogy is giving rise to new business modes in transport. EVOLVING REGULATIONS Reguatory framework is evoving to encompass new business modes. PEOPLE INVOLVED Autoraja Autowae Bangaore City Poice Bangaore Metropoitan Transport Corpora on Bangaore Traffic Poice Cubito Meru MoveInSync Nivaata (Verayu) Office of the Commissioner for Transport, Karnataka Oa Three Whees United Uber Zoomcar Bring reguators and entrepreneurs together to discuss and understand: Perceptions and expectations Resources, constraints, and chaenges Gaps and disagreements in the current scenario Short-term and ong-term recommendations for better safety The aim of the workshop was to: Discuss expectations of each stake-hoder s roe Understand the resources, constraints, and chaenges of each stake-hoder Highight gaps and disagreements in the current ecosystem Make short-term and ong-term recommendations

5 QUESTIONS POSED DURING THE WORKSHOP è With various safety features across companies and agencies, how can commuters remember or be aware of which one to use during crisis? è How can drivers report or give feedback about harassment from commuters? è è With panic buttons and hepines in pace, how can compaints be fitered so that the most urgent and severe cases are addressed first? Companies are backisting drivers on their systems, but how can they know if the driver has been previousy backisted by another company? A REALITY CHECK Reguators are coping with new businesses that are disrupting traditiona brick and mortar modes of transport Companies are strugging with high degrees of reguation and a ack of eve paying fied Stakehoders have different perceptions of safety - monitoring/surveiance vs. privacy There is imited uptake of safety features and no cear processes to measure their effectiveness Drivers and commuters are both the target audience for companies and agencies and they need to keep both parties engaged fairy There are no standard procedures of driver verification, training, rating criteria across companies, agencies and states

6 OPPORTUNITIES Panic buttons, vehice tracking, and hepines Assess effectiveness of panic buttons Driver verification, training, and backisting Deterrents to ensure that drivers are not fasey accused and backisted Ladies-ony services and women drivers Governments commit to train tens of thousands of women drivers

7 Consistent procedures on ca sorting, emergency escaation and coordination with the poice Commuter education and awareness Use of robust, trusted third-party verification services Consistent procedures on driver verification across states and cities Create eve paying fied for women drivers (e.g. permits, vehice ownership) Contribute to income generating opportunities for women with fexibe hours

8 WRI India is a research organisation with experts and staff who work cosey with eaders to turn big ideas into action to sustain a heathy environment the foundation of economic opportunity and human webeing. We envision an equitabe and prosperous panet driven by the wise management of natura resources. We aspire to create a word where the actions of government, business, and communities combine to eiminate poverty and sustain the natura environment for a peope. EMBARQ is WRI s goba sustainabe urban mobiity practice that heps cities make sustainabe transport a reaity. Founded in 2002, EMBARQ is part of WRI Ross Center for Sustainabe Cities. WRI Sustainabe Cities works in Brazi, China, India, Mexico, and Turkey. EMBARQ coaborates with oca and nationa authorities, businesses, academics and civi society to reduce poution, improve pubic heath, and create safe, accessibe and attractive urban pubic spaces and integrated transport systems. EMBARQ India has been activey promoting the deveopment of sustainabe transport in a number of Indian cities, its projects and research work spans various fieds, ike bus operations; Bus Rapid Transit; road safety audits; transit oriented deveopment; station accessibiity; nonmotorised transport; and para-transit services. EMBARQ India aso works activey in the areas of research and poicy for sustainabe transport.