Many women’s travel experiences relate directly to their disproportionate share of caregiving responsibilities. Travelers supervising dependents are more likely to need access to multiple destinations and may have more belongings in tow. Because dependents are unlikely to be commuting adults, travel during off-peak hours is more common, and paying multiple fares can increase the financial burden. Additionally, safety is a greater concern for women, both when they are traveling alone and when they are traveling with dependents, especially children.

TCRP Research Report 265: Addressing Travel Needs of Women and Families on Public Transportation, produced by TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program, presents a set of practical tools to help transit agencies better understand their riders, use existing data more effectively, assess how well they are serving women and families, build internal support for these efforts, and identify service planning, vehicle, and station design strategies that benefit women and families. The eight tools are organized into three stages: Understand Your Riders, Build Internal Capacity, and Deploy Your Tactics.

Infrastructure Assets: Transit Assets
Resource Types: Guide/Manual, Research Report
Management Processes: Performance Based Planning & Programming, Strategic Direction