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Gender Mainstreaming in Urban Public Transport in the Kathmandu Valley

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By Nisha Tamang Ghising

Spring 2022

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Research on gendered travel patterns and behaviour around the world shows that there are significant differences in the travel patterns and modes of transportation used by women and men in existing urban transportation systems, and that these differences are linked to their roles and responsibilities in society. Every person in the valley is immensely affected by the transportation management. Women, especially, are reported to have difficulty using public transit, while bearing a bigger percentage of their household's travel burden and taking more trips linked to reproductive and caregiving responsibilities. When it comes to transportation infrastructure and services, issues such as overcrowding, a lack of suitable operation schedules and bus stops, uncomfortable trips, and late services continue to plague the valley’s public transport system, therefore, maintaining safe, timely, and high-quality public transportation for valley residents has become a pressing priority. Despairing to say, women's mobility needs and habits are rarely considered, and female users are regularly harassed and abused. Women's increasing employment obligations and educational prospects demand them to be more mobile and use public transportation on their own. However, problems faced by women in transport sector are underrepresentation of women in the transport sector and inadequate gender mainstreaming in transport policy and legal framework and poor implementation and enforcement. 


Main Objectives:

  • To find out to what extent the gender issues have been mainstreamed into transport policy, planning and practice.

  • To assess how gender-sensitive transportation plans and policies affect women's mobility.

  • To examine the issue of women’s employment in urban public transport.

 

The research study aims to explore, investigate, and analyse the problems and potential of women to be specific in the transport sector to create an inclusive, equitable, and sustainable urban public transportation system in the Kathmandu valley. Furthermore, awareness among different stakeholders and the acceptance of policy makers, most importantly, public view and their response for the women empowerment will be researched.

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