Public Transportation: Rethinking Concepts and Theories

The Challenge

Categories used in transportation surveys—and, hence, the way statistics are gathered and analyzed—may not properly account for caring work—that is unpaid labor performed by adults for children or other dependents, including labor related to the upkeep of a household. Public transport systems are typically designed around the needs of commuters (people traveling between their homes and places of paid employment). The mobility associated with caring work, including childcare and elder care, has typically not figured into transportation design.

Method: Rethinking Concepts and Theories

The innovative concept "mobility of care" provides a perspective for "recognizing and revaluing care work" (Sánchez de Madariaga, 2009). Incorporating "caring work" into user surveys helps to identify the significant number of trips that women and men make for this purpose. Understanding gender differences in public transportation is important for understanding climate change and planning efficient housing and neighborhoods.

Gendered Innovations:

  1. Adding the concept, "mobility of care", to data collection variables may render public transportation more responsive to users' needs.
  2. Understanding gender differences in travel has led to the concept of "trip chaining" with ramifications for the design of public transport systems.
  3. Gathering data disaggregated by sex and other factors intersecting with sex and gender (such as income, family status, etc.) improves transportation research and policy.