In 2021, 11% of women cycled at least once a week compared to 23% of men in the UK[1]. This gender gap in active travel extends into bike and e-scooter sharing schemes (either docked or dockless), which have become available in numerous cities in the last decade. Lime, the UK’s largest shared micromobility provider, approximates that only 25% of their riders in the UK are women, compared to their global average of 30%[2]. This gender gap in active travel has huge implications from limiting women’s mobility and access to opportunities to exercising and socialising with the ease that men can. Beyond this, it impacts us as a society and our planet.
How could mobility hubs be used to help bridge this gender gap?
Mobility hubs seek to bring together different modes of transport, such as shared transport, public transport and active travel, in one location. They make it easier for people to change between modes, see and access different sustainable transport options, and provide improvements to public spaces. Mobility hubs can be used as tools to address gaps and barriers to sustainable travel modes. Therefore, when considering barriers that women face to active travel, mobility hubs could consider the below in their design and location to better address women’s mobility needs:
- Integration with public transport and live travel information – Many of us feel vulnerable when we wait for a connecting service or walk places we don’t know. Mobility hubs minimise waiting times and walking distances between interchanges and destinations therefore enhancing sense of safety, with different sustainable transport options for the first/last mile of women’s journeys.
- Location – Mobility hubs should be located close to protected cycle infrastructure and well-lit routes to help address women’s safety concerns related to cycling and travelling at night. Locations should have natural surveillance and be close to final destinations to support women’s journeys, such as residential areas, schools and neighbourhood centres.
- Diversity of bikes and scooters – Women on average have a greater share of caring responsibilities, from looking after children to helping elderly relatives with their food shopping. These are hard to undertake on shared bikes and scooters which are primarily designed for males and commuting with small front baskets or no storage provision. Including shared cargo bikes, and bikes and scooters with larger storage baskets and child seats at mobility hubs would better respond to women’s needs, and raise the visibility of non-commuting travel and women cycling.
- Reserving cycles and parking spaces – particularly at night and for non-standard cycles. This would remove concerns related to not being able to find a docked parking space close to a destination, which can impact women’s personal safety if they have to search a wider area, parking in less secure areas with potentially longer walks to their destination. A guaranteed space at a dock or mobility hub of choice would help to provide a greater sense of security and safety for women.
- Integrated ticketing – women’s travel behaviour is different to men, often involving different modes of transport and trip chaining (multi-stop journeys), which can lead to higher travel costs for women. Smart and integrated ticketing across different modes, for example, via Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) which combines all transport information and payment into a single application, would reduce this financial disadvantage and encourage multi-modal travel at mobility hubs.
Mobility hubs could therefore help to better respond to women’s mobility needs and provide important linkages between sustainable modes in local contexts. This would help to support more women into active travel and in creating more inclusive and sustainable cities that benefit us all.
[1] https://www.sustrans.org.uk/media/10527/sustrans-2021-walking-and-cycling-index-aggregated-report.pdf
[2] Women’s Night Safety Report (li.me)
