People with different characteristics have different barriers and needs. This happens in all the aspects of life and the transport system is not an exception. Differences between men and women in mobility patterns, needs when using transport infrastructures, vehicles and participation in transport related jobs have been highlighted in several transport research studies and are gaining importance across society.
In fact, the EU is very aware of these gender differences and has created the Women in Transport Platform for Change with the aim of strengthening women’s employment and equal opportunities for women and men in the transport sector.
Gender differences in transport are taken into consideration by the DIAMOND project in order to improve the design of transport infrastructures and services, vehicles’ design and improve job conditions and career expectations with fairer jobs more adapted to women’s needs.
About the Inclusion Diamond and Polyhedral Individual
The Inclusion Diamond (ID) and Polyhedral Individual (PI) model has born with the aim of helping in the definition and generation, in a structured way, of cases of study related to the transport sector without losing sight of the users or employees.
This novel methodology facilitates the definition of the objectives and scope of analysis, the identification of boundaries, the definition of profiles for the study through the polyhedral individual concept and the definition of scenarios based on the structure of the Inclusion Diamond, which represents different sides of the transport system.
Vertexes and layers of the Inclusion Diamond model
The ID is a user-centred model, with the PI at its core. The ID has the shape of a diamond and each of the vertexes represent different dimensions of the transport system of today and of the future. Inside each vertex, there are subdivisions which are called layers.
Inside this diamond structure, the users of the transport system are represented with a polyhedron, called the polyhedral individual, representing the users’ interaction with the transport system considering their different characteristics or profiles (i.e. age, gender, culture, family, religion, disability, economic level, sexuality and appearance).
DIAMOND’s project model allows for an in-depth analysis of transport users and employees’ expectations and requirements, the organisation of data according to the different transport dimensions, and profiles selected as the focus of the study.
The ID is formed by 6 vertexes with different layers or areas of study.
- The first vertex “Transport infrastructure and business models today” is focused on the analysis of:
- The transport system from the perspective of the design of infrastructures, including open air infrastructure (e.g. bus stops, parking) and closed infrastructures (e.g. underground train stations, underground and semi-ground parking).
- The different business models that have been raised for the use of each transport option.
This vertex includes a range of studies focused on the analysis of women’s needs and travel patterns, how transport business models and infrastructure have been designed thinking on these requirements, and if not, how they can be corrected.
The three layers included within this vertex are urban private transport, inter-urban private transport and public transport.
- Vertex 2 “User of vehicles today” is focused on the analysis of the design and potential design improvements on vehicles used currently. The layers included within this vertex are studies related to road transport, rail transport, maritime transport and air transport.
- Vertex 3 “Jobholder today” is focused on the study of trends and factors influencing the participation of women in mobility and transport related job positions. The layers included within this vertex are policy making and public authority, studies related to jobholders in the education sector, research and innovation in the transport sector, study of on-site and off-site employment aspects of transport professionals.
- Vertex 4 “Transport infrastructure and business models tomorrow” is similar to vertex 1 but for the analysis of future transport infrastructures and business models. Therefore, the vertex layers are the analysis of emerging technologies with the potential to modify transport systems and potential new business models for the transport sector.
- Vertex 5 “User of vehicles tomorrow” is focused on the analysis of the design and potential design improvements of vehicles of the future, based on current development trends.
- Vertex 6 “Jobholders tomorrow” is focused on the study of the opportunities and factors of the transport and mobility systems of the future and on their influence in the participation in the creation of new job positions to support fair access for women.
Using this method, DIAMOND project is focused on the analysis of gender issues and the definition of fair measures to improve women’s participation in four areas of the transport sector: railway public infrastructures, autonomous vehicles, bike sharing and female employment.
The use of the Inclusion Diamond with the Polyhedral Individual is a helpful tool for structuring transport-related research, including a clear definition of individual characteristics that may lead to discrimination or unfair treatment towards women.
About Aitec
AITEC technological centre research team counts with 17 years of experience in transport and logistics in the field of the consultancy, auditing and research.
AITEC´s team is formed by experts with PhD in STEM disciplines. The team’s research work has been focused on increasing the safety and the environmental care of transport operations, on digitalization of the transport, especially for dangerous goods, and on the development of new methodologies about corporate social responsibility protocols to increase the inclusion of discriminated collectives in the transport system.
This research team is one of the creators of a new method to address a deep gender study of the whole transport system named Inclusion Diamond and Polyhedral individual model.
