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Public buses in Dhaka City are inadequate in numbers and mostly remain overcrowded which is not accessible for many people, particularly the elderly or disabled and the women. Considering the travel problems of women, in the early 1980s Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) had provided services of 'women only' bus (called 'women-bus'). Howe...
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... generate for men and change attitude of conductors for general public transport Both in questionnaire interview and FGD it was reported that the existing 'women-only' bus service should be improved. To do such, the majority mentioned to improve the seat, more frequent headway, and improved air circulation of the bus (Figure 4). However, none of them mentioned about cleaner, low-floor, etc about the bus. ...
Citations
... Literature suggests that sexual harassment generally emanates from men's refusal to acknowledge the changing power structures within the household and society and is meant to maintain women's subordination (Khair, 1998). Characterized by a high prevalence of sexual violence, the capital city of Dhaka also ranks as one of the seventh most dangerous cities for women in the world (Thomson Reuters Foundation, 2017;Rahman, 2010). Recent surveys point out that 84% of women have faced harassment in public places (ActionAid International, 2016) whilst 96% of women reported being sexually harassed in public transport (BRAC, 2018). ...
... In addition to gendered violence, class inequality is another key characteristic of the urban travel experience in Dhaka. Previous studies in Bangladesh establish that public buses are typically used by lowerincome male commuters, while working-class women often resort to walking, given the challenges of using public transport (unavailability, long waiting time, discomfort, overcrowding, attitudes of bus staff etc.) (Rahman, 2010;Sultana et al., 2020). A survey in 2021 found that about 45% of working women walk an average of 5 km to save money and avoid harassment (BUET, 2021), and only 25% used public buses. ...
... service quality, demand and route coverage) and patriarchal societal 3 norms. In South and Southeast Asian countries, PT services are composed of formal services (mostly 4 train and bus services) and informal, para-transit, services (such as rickshaws, tuk tuk, boat-taxis and 5 motorized three-wheeler vehicles) (Gopal & Shin, 2019;Rahman, 2010;Tara, 2011). PT provides a 6 common space which require users to be in very close proximity to each other, due to over-crowded 7 ...
... Access to 42 detailed data is cumbersome, insufficient and infrequently updated (Natarajan, 2016). This leads to 43 development of uninform policies which disproportionately favors the more privileged population 44 groups (Rahman, 2010 International and national policies 1 A closer examination of the policies showed that there exists some ambiguity in the terms adopted for 2 gender inclusion, in particular an interchange of "equality" and "equity". The ADB (2008) in one of its 3 strategy reports, discussed action plans to resolve gender equity issues in transport. ...
Women in South and Southeast Asia encounter unique mobility barriers which are a combination of poor services by public transport modes and underlying patriarchal societal norms. Although international organisations provide guidelines for national policy makers to develop inclusive public transport systems, women’s mobility remains restricted and unsafe. This paper provides a critical review on women’s mobility barriers from built-environment to policy for public transport ridership. It includes three main aspects. Firstly, the key barriers encountered by women from poor service quality, sexual harassment and patriarchal societal norms. Secondly, the limitations in common methods adopted to measure these barriers. Finally, the effectiveness of international guidelines and national policies on women’s travel needs for public transport ridership. Findings revealed that women’s mobility barriers in South and Southeast Asian countries originate from the lack of adequate inclusive policies and protection laws from authorities. The underlying patriarchal societal norms form a toxic base, which allow for severe forms of sexual harassment to take place when riding public transport and for women to experience victim-blaming, if the incidents are reported. The paper concludes with knowledge gaps to assist practitioners and researchers to move toward safer journeys and development of inclusive public transport systems for women in developing countries.
... Regarding the most common types of violence against women and girls, findings from this study relate to a study conducted in Baku Metro, Azerbaijan made by Jafarova et al. (2014), who noted that around 41% of victim women had experienced physical harassment. The results of this study also similar to the work of Rahman (2010) who indicated that, 41% had been physically harassed or groped on public transport by male passengers, drivers, and/or conductors. Similarly, a study conducted by Secretaría de la Mujer in 2012 in Bogotá, Columbia, reported that 64% of women had experienced unwanted sexual touching on public transport (Jaramillo, 2014). ...
Violence against women and girls is a major public problem globally. This study had conducted to assess women and girls safety and security in public transport and identify factors contributing to violence in Hawassa city, Ethiopia. Data used in the study have been obtained from 199 randomly selected respondents (36.7% women and 63.3% girls), and in addition, 24 focus group discussion members have also participated. Binary Logistic Regression had employed for quantitative data analysis. Data from focus group discussions were analyzed qualitatively using narrative analysis. The types of violence identified were physical, sexual, and psychological. The finding shows that 50.8% of women and girls have experienced more than one type of violence while using public transport. The results indicated that six variables significantly contributed to violence. These variables were age, marital status, type of public transport used, travel time, facilities, and management of public transport services. The result indicates that violence against women and girls in public transport is a serious threat to women’s safety and security to access their mobility in the city. Therefore, cities must focus on developing gender-sensitive public transport service plans and policies that consider women and girls unique needs in public transportation.
... Gender-based violence, especially against women, in public spheres, and the ways in which this affects their daily mobility has been studied rarely in Latin-American cities, where public transit and urban environment are vastly different from northern cities. Genderbased violence and mobility is an emerging topic in Colombia, and has been studied in larger cities, such as Bogota (Quinones, 2020;Ritterbusch, 2016). The case presented herein, conducted in a medium-sized city, adds to the growing body of literature on gender-based violence and mobility. ...
... In Colombia, as in many countries around the world, GBV has not been granted a complete legal status or definition (Quinones, 2020). Although in previous studies, the GBV concept has been defined exclusively for women (Mcilwaine, 2016). ...
... In Manizales, the lowest income strata (S1 and S2) are located mainly in peripheral areas, far from the centers of major economic and social activity. This study, taking a medium Colombian city as a case study, makes a significant contribution to the national and global literature, as most studies on this topic focus on developed countries with mass transit systems that structure urban mobility (Gardner et al., 2017;Kash, 2019;Quinones, 2020). ...
Gendered mobility has attempted to understand the way in which mobility and gender are constantly shaped and built through travel choices, behaviors, and transport planning. This study sought to find a relationship between gender-based violence (sexual and street harassment and sexual abuse and assault) in mobility throughout Manizales, a medium-sized Colombian city, considering all modes of transport (walking, biking, driving private cars, motorcycles, and using public transit). Moreover, to measure the changes in travel choice and behaviors caused by violent incidents, a self-reported survey was designed and applied, through a mix of electronic and physical questionnaires, administered to users in Manizales. Furthermore, a chi-squared statistical test was conducted, so as to understand the relationships between variables, especially gender. Women reported higher incident rates of gender-based violence thana men, as experienced in modes of transport such as public transit, walking, and bike riding. Women also tended to use private modes of transport (cars, motorcycles, or taxicabs) because of gender-based violence incidents. Those incidents limit individuals’ rights to the city, as well as access to opportunities. If decision-makers want to implement successful, sustainable mobility projects, they must guarantee users' safety, as violent situations could boost changes in favor of private modes of transport, such as cars and motorcycles. Future investigations should consider minority groups, like LGBTIQ + communities, as they experience more dangerous cases of gender-based violence and discrimination in cities.
... M. Shafiq Ur Rahman"s paper covered the points of public"s experience and satisfaction level of this current bus journey, and their overall expectations about bus services (Rahman: 2012). On the other hand, he also discussed on "women only" bus service in another paper where he explored the existing route, frequency, and service quality of the "women-only" bus and investigated why this service could not survive in the past or lessons learnt from the previous failures (Rahman: 2010). The transport services currently provided by the public and private buses are insecure, unreliable, congested and unsafe. ...
The limitations that women face while riding through public transports in Dhaka are depicted in this study. Buses are frequently packed due to insufficient and ineffective management, resulting in a hostile and unsafe environment for passengers, particularly women. Women are subjected to verbal or nonverbal harassment, unwelcoming touches, and, in some cases, direct contact with the genital parts by fellow passengers or conductors, which impedes personal and social development. The purpose of this research is to determine the true cause of harassment, the types of harassment, the effects on the victim, and how to address the issue of female harassment on public transit. To carry out this research, an exploratory was carried out first to ascertain the truth, and 18 specific hypotheses were generated using a structured questionnaire; data was collected from the target group and evaluated using a statistical tool (SPSS). Multiple regressions demonstrate that a lack of social justice and strong anti-female bus harassment protests had a significant impact on the parameters studied. The findings of this article will aid the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC), government policymakers, other women's organizations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in formulating policy that will promote a women-friendly environment on public transportation.
... The public transportation system of Bangladesh is inefficient, nonproductive, hazardous, underfunded, and overcrowded [7] [8]. Because of a greater variety of social classes, cultural backgrounds, and economic situations in the urban context of developing countries, travel patterns between male and female members of the same household are different [9]. ...
... These factors contribute to the liberation of urban Bangladeshi working women to pursue their travel desires. In Bangladesh, access to transportation is pertinent to the ability to travel; however, the mobility of women is constrained by the lack of affordability and safety of both domestic and international public transport (Rahman, 2010). In particular, 94% of Bangladeshi women who use public transportation have experienced physical and verbal abuse along with other forms of sexual harassment (Daily Star, 2018). ...
... While we acknowledge recent government initiatives as exemplified in the 'women-only' bus service in Dhaka, Bangladesh as a possible best practice (Rahman, 2010), resources should be extended to improve overall public transportation systems globally in order to alleviate the harassment currently experienced by women. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced Bangladeshi female travelers to adjust their expectations regarding wanderlust. ...
Asian Muslim women's travel habits are sorely under-researched. In response to various calls for research in this area, this study utilizes Hofstede's five cultural dimensions to determine how Bangladeshi cultural values inhibit and/or enhance travel constraints for solo Muslim female travelers and the subsequent effects on solo travel behavior. We propose solo travel as a strategic tourism development tool to achieve mobility rights and gender equality particularly for destinations that are highly populated with more women than men. Introducing an interpretivist qualitative approach, the study extracted both survey and open-ended responses from 307 frequent Bangladeshi solo travelers that were recruited from a women-only English-speaking Facebook Bangladeshi travel group. The findings reveal that this group is constrained by a unique combination of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural factors. Power-distance, masculinity, and uncertainty-avoidance also play key roles. Sustainable and practical applications are outlined for destination management organizations, travel planners, policy makers, non-governmental organizations, and for-profit tour companies that benefit both Bangladeshi solo female travelers and those with whom they interact.
... Their statistical model found that the waiting facilities, traffic management, and traffic staff behaviour affect passenger gratification. Public transport in Dhaka cannot guarantee protected, comfortable, and safe travel for disabled groups and women (Abir and Hoque, 2011;Rahman, 2010). Rahman and Nahrin (2012) argued that public transport in Dhaka is frequently unavailable for women, the elderly, and the disabled. ...
This case study research assesses the social impacts of inadequate transport facilities on the people of the city of Dhaka using the qualitative content analysis method. From livelihood to the urban communities' mobility, all life-related matters are directly or indirectly related to public transport. However, the transport system in this city is one of the worst in the world. Hence, there is an absolute necessity to examine the inadequate transport facilities of the present transit system and their social effects on the people living in this city. Vanclay's Social Impact Assessment was integrated to investigate the impact. In six specific gateways of Dhaka, in-depth interviews with 1800 respondents were carried out to know about the social impacts of insufficient public transport facilities. The social impacts of inadequate transport facilities create problematic conditions specifically for the low and middle-income communities of Dhaka, aggravating traffic danger, absence of protection and safety, social isolation, reduced mobili-ties, loss of social capital, cultural deprivation, absence of social interaction, family estrangement, travel cost, deficiency of transport accessibility. In the future, it will have serious repercussions for its residents.
... At night travelling in public transport system is like a deadly situation for women. Frequently, women passengers face some unwanted situation (Rahman, 2010). In Fig. 1.4 difficulties are faced by women getting into public transport is shown. ...
Application based ride sharing service is reducing traffic congestion and providing employment opportunity to the people. Easy to access nature and due to comfortability this service is becoming popular in Bangladesh. The service providers and policymakers are trying to expand this ride sharing service for different people travelling to the same destination. In this study overall acceptance of ride sharing service is measured with sharing attitude and perceived risk of user’s. For this study structured questions were formed based on reported attitude and perceived risk of the users from literature and stake holders. Using online survey total 350 data was collected from car sharing users of Bangladesh. Our study shows that, the data collected from ride sharing users are consistent and suitable for factor analysis. Data is incorporated with structural equation model to test the hypothesis of service acceptance of ride sharing service. The structural equation model is justified with the help of SPSS Amos 26. Our result shows that, safety & security of ride sharing service and user’s judgement those were latent variables in the developed model have positive influence with each other. Under user’s judgement latent variable, driver’s attitude(y7), driver’s skill(y8), traffic congestion(y9) and environmental impact(y10) observed variables has higher influence on ride sharing service. One the other hand, under safety & security latent variable, personal info. (y11) and account info. (y12) observed variables has higher influence on sharing attitude. Our results also signify deeper understanding of the effect of user’s sharing attitude and perceived risk on their acceptance of ride sharing service. These findings help the policy makers to understand the key attributes of sharing attitude of the user’s. These results can also be utilized by the service provider and policy maker to improve the service quality to attract new user’s and the existing user’s. Driver’s skill, driver’s attitude toward user’s during traffic congestion and use of environment friendly fuel can help the policy maker to make this service more acceptable. And also privacy of both user’s info. and user’s account info. can accelerate this service. Our study also found ride sharing service more time and cost affordable for all type of users than public transport. By making ride sharing application more user-friendly and availability of ride sharing vehicles during peak hour this service can be widely accepted service for all.
... In Dhaka city, women are not satisfied with the existing 9 reserved seats as the paper further analyses that 42% women demanded 50% of the total seats to be kept reserved for women [20]. The special bus service for women has been introduced by BRTC in Mirpur-Gulistan route and Khilgaon-Taltola-Gulistan route from July 2008, but the number of buses operating is not sufficient according to 95% of female passengers [21]. ...
This paper aims at comprehending the existing travel situation regarding the safety of women using public transport in Dhaka city for daily commute, identify the most dominating variable affecting women's safety and determine possible solutions to improve the situation. In this regard, a questionnaire-based convenience survey (both online and intercept) was conducted amongst women of diversified age, occupation and income at different places of Dhaka city. Total 453 respondents were surveyed where 329 respondents used city bus and leguna. From the collected data, it is perceived that around 86.6% women have fear of getting harassed while around 67.2% women have experienced harassment, which is mostly by male passengers. The analysis shows that age, time of travel and travel companions of women have substantial correlation with the rate of harassment. This study will aid the policy makers with the current state of women's safety in the public transportation sector and assist them in taking appropriate measures.
