Safety fear prevents women in India using sustainable transport

In a survey, more than 80 per cent of women stated that they would change their mode of travel if they felt they were in danger during their everyday journeys. The results suggest that women need to feel safer if they are to be persuaded to use public transport, ride-sharing services or other sustainable modes of transport.

The survey is discussed in the paper Perceptions of Women’s Safety in Transient Environments and the Potential Role of AI in Enhancing Safety: An Inclusive Mobility Study in India published in the Journal of Sustainability. The researchers aimed to investigate how women’s perception of safety affects their choice of travel mode. 

Their results reveal that security and safety were top concerns for 57 per cent and 46 per cent of respondents respectively. Their work highlights the key issue that fear and anxiety force women to either drive (44%) or to not travel at all (27%). The researchers believe that women’s safety perception and feelings of fear undermine attempts to move to greener forms of travel such as public transport or ride-sharing services.

Dr Guilhermina Torrao, a lecturer in transport, led the research. She said: "Our research highlights the problem of gender-based violence and harassment, particularly on public transport, which has a negative impact on women’s travel decisions. 

“We believe that this issue must be addressed urgently if women are to be encouraged to leave the car at home and use more sustainable modes of transport such as using public buses.” 

The survey also questioned the participants about what they thought would keep them safe. Respondents indicated a preference for more innovative technology which can be optimised with artificial intelligence, such as CCTV, over more traditional measures like personal safety alarms or calling women’s helplines. 

The paper refers to examples of AI-based technology as a potential solution to make travelling safer for women in the future. This could include facial recognition to identify known offenders, predicting high-risk areas and times for incidents and plotting safer alternatives routes based on real-time data, to avoid potentially dangerous areas and ensure that the mobility and transport connectivity is safe and inclusive for all the users. 

This study was supported by the British Council-funded Going Global Partnerships Exploratory Grant and is part of ongoing efforts to better understand how gender impacts travel behaviour and to drive policy changes that promote safer and more equitable mobility solutions. The survey received 51 responses and was disseminated with help from Symbiosis Institute of Technology (SIT) in Pune, India.