Walking, cycling, taking a bus, train or a shared taxi may not be as glamorous, fast or efficient as taking a private car to one’s destination, but they are more environmentally friendly and also open up possibilities of encounters with the city that are not possible when commuting alone in a car. If people from all walks of life are able to access public transport spaces equally and safely, it can help bring them together and make our societies more socially cohesive. Public transport is also better for our health as a community, since vehicular pollution in Indian cities is creating the recurring issue of poor air quality and air pollution related deaths. As per the World Bank, 17.8% of deaths in India in 2019 were attributed to air pollution in some way.

Therefore, the importance of public transport to make cities safe, healthy and accessible is being recognized even more by people and policy-makers alike. For instance, the idea of “Smart Cities” places a lot of emphasis on expanding sustainable public transport and making our cities more walkable. But in India, for cisgender women, transgender and non-binary people, there are still many barriers to safe and affordable mobility. While private cars and taxis may not be affordable for all to use on a daily basis, public modes of transport and walking bear the risk of sexual harassment and discrimination.

Due to these concerns, policy makers have come out with measures such as reserved sections and seats for women in buses and trains, free bus tickets for women in several states including Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, and employment of women in metros as drivers or other staff in Kochi and Bangalore. But have these schemes proved successful in enabling equality in mobility? Are these enough to say that India has a “gender-transformative approach” to mobility?

Initiatives for women, but not for gender diversity

Initiatives such as free bus tickets for women (pink tickets), women-only train coaches and special autorickshaws for women to ensure their safety only begin to scratch the surface of the larger issues of accessibility, safety and diversity in mobility. These schemes have been successful in enabling women to imagine themselves as part of public spaces and become daily users of public transport. In Delhi, since the scheme was introduced, around 11 lakh pink tickets are issued to women commuters daily.

However, instances of harassment have also been reported after the scheme was introduced. Women in Delhi have complained that buses often do not stop for them and drive past them or they face remarks from male co-passengers about “freeloading”. There has not been any systematic response on the part of governments to contain these incidences.

Transgender women commuters in Maharashtra have reported that they are often denied reduced bus fares, even though these schemes are purported to be inclusive. They are asked to provide proof of their gender identity – as if anyone else is ever asked to prove their gender! Some transgender and non-binary people may also choose to not change their gender marker in their official documents, which makes it impossible to prove ”transness” in the first place.

Promoting gender diversity and inclusivity in the public transport system would require all stakeholders within the system to be trained in gender-sensitivity and an understanding of diverse ways of experiencing and expressing gender. It should also not be considered mandatory for a transgender person to prove our identity in order to receive the benefits that we are also entitled to.

Smart cities should be inclusive cities

What makes a city “smart”? Indian cities are still riddled with deep inequalities and poor infrastructure available to those who are most marginalised. Non-motorized transport such as cycling and walking are in bad condition and people face a high risk of discomfort and even fatal accidents. Despite this, many people rely on walking, cycling and cycle rickshaws to reach their destinations. The main users of these modes of transport belong to middle- and low-income groups and women. Women are reported to primarily use walking as a means of transport despite the fact that walking infrastructure for pedestrians in many parts of the city is not safe or comfortable (Jain and Tiwari 2017)¹.

Despite heavy investments in making cities “smart”, there is little done to make them truly inclusive. Train and bus routes are still designed with a male user in mind who mainly commutes between commercial and residential parts of the city for work. On the other hand, women tend to make multi-purpose trips or “trip-chain” to accompany children and the elderly to schools, hospitals and markets. Moreover, the new, shiny metro systems in Indian cities are still not affordable for many people. A report by Mumbai Vikas Samiti last year stated that more than half of total trips by commuters end by walking – despite the existence of public buses and the metro system.

There is still much left to be desired in the Smart Cities mission as the country’s Tier-II and III cities continue to develop their infrastructure and mobility systems for all. Adequate data needs to be collected about the specific needs of women and transgender users of public transport to design a policy framework that suits them as well. The routes must be designed according to their needs and safety and complaints mechanisms must be strengthened to address the issue of harassment. Considering the wage disparity still prevalent in Indian society today, these transport modes need to be made more affordable for all. If these aspects are successfully considered in policy and design of mobility systems, it could enable even the most marginalised to access them and improve the social cohesiveness of Indian cities considerably.

On another note, as feminist activists, we need to ask for more than just women-friendly schemes and segregated train compartments. A holistic transformation of gender norms in our society is needed, as many people still hesitate to go out to public spaces alone on their own terms because of harassment based on their gender identity and appearance. For instance, transgender people in Indian cities and towns also need to access modes of transport safely, as state-sponsored mobility schemes that target cisgender women are observed to be leaving them out. 

References

1. Jain, Deepty, and Geetam Tiwari. 2017. “Sustainable Mobility Indicators for Indian Cities: Selection Methodology and Application.” Ecological Indicators 79 (August): 310–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.03.059 ↩︎