Need of women safety in public transportation systems across the world

The issue of Women's safety in public transportation is a big problem worldwide. Women across the globe face sexual harassment, eve teasing, and other forms of unwelcome behaviour in buses, metros and railways everyday. A proper urban and public transportation planning is the need of the time to ensure safety of women in the public sphere.

Problem faced by women

Public transport across the world has not been designed to keep the needs and safety of women in general. Public transport is mainly male-dominated as they usually have to take a single longer trip. Some of the problems faced are-

1. Ill-Treatment by male passengers

2. The seats reserved for women are used up by male

3. Absence of strict rules and the carelessness of public officials

4. Most women feel insecure travelling at night due to the poor lighting of the streets.

5. Womens hesitate in public transport jobs due to suppression and harassment from their co-workers.

So it becomes necessary to have urban and public transportation planning keeping in mind the safety of women. Women workforce must play a role in public transport planning.

Making Public Transport Safer for Women

Poor urban and public transportation planning limits women from accessing quality education and employment opportunities. This, in turn, affects the country's economic well-being if the other section of the society does not feel safe using public transport. 

To address the challenges faced by women across the world, we can look at some of the suggestions below-

• Information technology  can be used to ensure women's safety and easy mobility. Discounted fare tickets and step-fewer bus services are offered to women as they usually combine work with house chores and have to carry packages which can hinder their mobility.

• Reservation of seats in metros and buses, installation of LED street lights and increased patrolling of streets can lead to significant improvements in the safety of women.

• Increasing the number of hawkers along the streets increases activity is being done as women tend to walk a long distance from public transport to reach their homes.

• Use of IT to develop specialized apps has ensured the safety of women such as - (a) Use apps which show the safer area of the place and also give real-time tracking of your location to your friends and families, (b) Use of apps for a real-time complaints where women can easily file complaints on their phones with a quick response from the Public transport authority and the police.

• Media can play an important role in educating and creating awareness among people about the safety of women in public transport

• Governments could hire more female workers for public transportation.

(This article is authored by Ms. Mia Smith, Project Coordinator at Sapphire Limousine. She loves to explore all themes of travel with the goal to provide people with amazing knowledge and ideas to explore the world and organise parties while traveling.)