Gender Issues in the Public Transport System of India: Critical Review

The United Nations has set Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets for global development, where few of the goals, i.e., SDG-05 and SDG-10, focus significantly on ensuring gender equality. Gender is a social construct, and there are now different ways to consider it, but in this chapter, the authors will distinguish gender as male and female. In order to realize the gender equity goal, females must have access to opportunities, and public transport system is one of the most cost effective and environmentally sustainable modes to facilitate this. In developing countries like India, public transportation networks observe socio-cultural aspects that impact women’s experiences in public spaces as a result of societal norms. Women’s perception of being safe in a public space is negatively influenced by infrastructural factors like poor design, dim-lit streets, and badly maintained public spaces. In addition, gender-based concerns in public transportation are social and behavioral flaws as a result of a lack of gender sensitivity. Their safety is found to be under threat in overcrowded modes of public transport. When it comes to public transportation, women have a poor experience that includes safety hazards, sexual harassment, and physical and psychological discomfort. The literature on gender concerns in public transportation systems has been investigated and presented as a stand-alone narrative literature review. Even though the public transport system in India is met with issues regarding women’s safety, it also has scope for some measures that can be taken in this direction. Overcrowding should not be a deterrent factor, infrastructural changes and safeguards could enhance women’s travel experience. The chapter also attempts to bring together various recommendations to curb these issues to highlight the aspirations of women from the public transport system in India, which envisage that the urban transport systems are socially sustainable.