Planning interventions for women safety in a transit corridor

Abstract

“Will you be able to travel so late in the night?”, “Are you going alone?”, “Give a call after you reach the place!” These are a few apprehensive questions that a woman has to hear from her dear ones when she is travelling alone in the city. The recent harassment cases have intensified this concern. Women are a vital part of the society and are equally responsible for its progress. When women’s movement is restricted, it obstructs her development. Due to this she is not able to do justice to her role. Safety and comfort are two major issues for the women travelling alone. There are various studies around the world which discuss that the travel patterns of women vary from those of men. Studies show that women tend to travel more during the off peak hours and more often with their dependents. They are more likely to stop on multiple points in the course of a single trip, the phenomenon which is known as trip chaining. The data and statistics collected by the public transport authorities in India is not disaggregated to understand women’s modal shares or to identify the enablers and barriers like affordability, accessibility, information, safety and security, which obstruct their access to public transport. This results in failure of public transport in addressing the travel needs of women commuters. Hence, a shift towards private transportation systems is observed. Public transportation journey is identified to comprise of five stages from origin to destination. This involves the stretch from the origin to the bus stop, waiting at the bus stop, travelling on the bus, getting down at the station and then reaching the destination. The perception of safety and comfort for a woman changes at each step. Since public transport is used as a medium to access economic and social opportunities, the lack of safety while using it has wider impacts on a woman’s life. An understanding and assessment of the role of physical and transportation planning in improvement of the perception of safety and comfort is therefore necessary. The basic “right to the city” of a woman is denied if the physical environment is not supportive of her needs and she does not feel comfortable travelling in her own city. This in turn, affects her participation and contribution towards the development of the city. Concern about small interventions and sensitivity towards women issues can help in evolving spaces of a better order. As a result, it leads to creation of such spaces that all genders can connect with and experience. The research aims to identify the problems which women face while commuting in the city. For this qualitative methods were adopted for primary surveys in the two selected corridors of Hyderabad city. The critical indicators for safety and comfort were identified from the literature and are examined for the delineated areas, from which a single corridor has been selected for detailed intervention. A scoring system for the bus stops, streets and perception survey has been developed and all these layers have been overlapped using the fish net technique in ArcGIS to identify the vulnerable areas. The results strongly advocate for recommendations at planning and policy levels for the delineated study area. A strategic framework has been developed for the same. Safe and comfortable public spaces in cities and communities increase innumerable possibilities for the involvement of women in the areas of work, education, politics, and recreation. It is therefore necessary for the urban planners to contribute in the process of enhancing safety of women in the city.