The safety in front of overcrowding and emergency situations, harassment and pickpocketing are the main factors that women users of metros and railways take into account, according to the data gathered on the opinion and level of satisfaction of 1,100 users from Catalonia, Ireland and Poland, compiled within the European DIAMOND project, coordinated by Eurecat technology centre.
Specifically, the project highlighted some significant gender differences on satisfaction with fairness and inclusivity of railways and metro with women having less access to, lower perception of and lower satisfaction with rail providers.
According to the survey, women seem to have greater concern and less satisfaction with safety and security issues. Results also indicate that issues around mobility, such as disability/chronic illness and caring responsibilities can have a large impact on users’ satisfaction with services.
Similarly, we must note that different demographics and fairness characteristics were more meaningful in different countries, showing that consideration of contextual factors is essential. In general, users that have experienced discrimination have been found to be significantly less satisfied than the rest of the user sample for the following safety and security characteristics. Ethnicity is also a significant factor in satisfaction level with the service.
Prediction of general satisfaction highlighted salient characteristics such as frequency of service, value for money, information about the services offered and the app provided to access this information, travel satisfaction security, walking from station to destination, safe belonging and comfort with available space, among the main relevant.
The aim of the project is to “develop a self-diagnosis tool and protocols for the transport sector that promote more inclusive and efficient transport systems from a gender perspective, through machine learning, Big Data and non-discriminatory algorithms”, explains the coordinator of the project and project manager at Eurecat, Lucia Recio.
The information gathered will allow the development of a new tool that “will generate and disseminate recommendations for a fairer and more inclusive transport system and identify challenges related to mobility from a gender perspective,” explains Diamond project technical coordinator Francisco Santarremigia, from AITEC.
Implementation of DIAMOND results in four real scenarios
The results of the DIAMOND project will be applied in the European public transport arena, autonomous vehicles, shared bikes and in corporate social responsibility and employment, which will be used as case studies.
In relation to public transport, the needs and expectations are studied in terms of safety within a station, accessibility and comfort through Decision Support Systems (DSS), while for autonomous vehicles, oriented managers will be generated. to ensure an inclusive experience.
In the case of bike sharing, the needs and expectations in the planning of services and the location of the fleet will be taken into account.
On the other hand, in terms of corporate social responsibility and work, the presence of women in specific jobs in the transport sector and the new opportunities that arise are being investigated.
European transport systems in terms of gender
The transport sector in Europe has 11 million jobs, of which only 22% are held by women, and it generates a gross value added of 548 million euros for the 28-member countries of the European Union.
In Europe, women employed in road and rail transport represent 14% of the workforce, 40% in air transport and 20% in river and maritime transport. Along these lines, DIAMOND promotes the increase of the presence of women in this sector, adapting the characteristics and needs of women to changes and to the opportunities of the transport market and mobility.
The project is founded within the context of the European Union Horizon 2020 programme and counts with the participation of 14 members from Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Serbia, Poland, France and Ireland, among which there are research centres (Eurecat and IBV), universities (University of Stirling, Edinburgh Napier University, the Technological University Dublin (TUDublin), and the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering of the University of Belgrade), transport operators (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Warsaw Transport Authority ZTM and Autolib’ Vélib’), associations (Genre & Ville and WAVE) and private companies and consultancies (AITEC, Systematica and RINA).