Public Transportation Is A Feminist Issue

http://www.citylab.com

A Million Woman March on Washington D.C.
elle.com

Hello Everyone:

Transportation.  It is not the first thing you think about when you think about women's issues.  Typically we think of women's issues as equal pay for equal work, family leave, and reproductive rights.  Transportation is not the first, second, or third thing you think about in relationship to gender issues.  However, Laura Bliss's CityLab article, "Mass Transit Mobilizes Women.  Why Don't Women Mobilize for Transit?", asks the reader to consider what the implications are in voting against transit projects, in order to save money but really, it has significant impact on women of color.

Sea of pink pussy hats in Washington D.C.
abcnews.go.com

 
Take a look at the picture on the left-hand side.  Most of the women (and men) in the picture traveled to the March by public transit.  Delayed trains and long waits, a sense of solidarity and purpose notwithstanding, a record number of riders rode the subway to make their voices heard.  Ms. Bliss reports, "...By 11a.m., the system registered 275,000 riders, eight times busier than a normal Saturday.  By the end of the day, ridership surged past 1 million,..." This astonishing number is just short of the record set by the number of riders traveling to former-President Obama 2009 inauguration.

The primary function of the system is not all that remarkable, if you stop to consider it for moment.  The D.C. subway system is really not that different from any other subway system in the country-it ferried attendees to the sister marches across the United States and, by extension, around the world.  However, the Metro served an important function on that day: it mobilized women en masse, similar to what public transportation does every day.  Ms. Bliss reports, "On an average day, about 60 percent of the people riding trains and buses in D.C. are women."  Not all together out of the ordinary: New York and Boston present a similar statistic.  She continues, "In Chicago, 62 percent of riders are women; in Philadelphia, it's 64 percent.  Nationwide, 50.5 percent of the people who commute via public transportation are women, despite the fact that women only form 47 percent of the workforce."

Women boarding a subway train
nydailynews.com

These are number that anyone who advocates for gender equality should take notice.  The greater female share of the urban population does not account for the divide.  "Women form a disproportionate share of low-wage and hourly workers in the U.S. and across most industries, they earn less on the dollar than men."  This hourly wage disparity means that women are held hostage to public transit, unable to afford a car.  In a single-vehicle household, women frequently sacrifice automobile access in order to allow their partner to commute to a better-paying job.

Elderly women waiting for a bus
harp.com

Here is another fact: "Not only do women represent greater shares of transit riders, but also take more transit trips:  As the primary caretakers in most households with  children nationwide, women tag o extra stops to their commutes for shopping, picking kids up for day care or school, to taking them to the doctor."

Given the above points, transit is extremely critical to women of color because the pay disparity is even greater.  Laura Bliss writes, Compared with white women, they are also more likely to live in poverty-and are more likely to serve as their household's primary breadwinner." A Stanford University study plotted the numbers: "As a percentage of all the trips (across modes) made in U.S. metro areas, roughly 7.2 percent of public transit trips are made by black women, compare to 5.8 for black men.  Asian women make up 4.4 percent of urban transit trips, versus 1.9 by Asian men.  Latino women make up 3.8 percent, compared to 2.7 for Latino men." (http://www.genderedinnovations.stanford.edu)

Lextran bus stop
Lexington, Kentucky
yelp.com

Here is another piece of information, "Yet hundreds of thousands of no-car households live outside of transit's reach-and millions of people who do live near bus stop and train stations still struggle to connect to well-paying jobs."  This is particularly true in the Southern United States, where the greatest share of American women of color reside.  In a similar vein, "...women of color disproportionately live in communities that lack access to critical health care-including reproductive health care."  Their children's schools frequently receive less investment than those in Caucasian neighborhoods.  Truthfully speaking, with the confirmation of Betsy DeVos to head the U.S. Department of Education yours truly does not expect to see any new education investment in minority neighborhoods.  Women in minority communities are more prone to impact of a warmer climate.  Thus, the world-wide march brought millions into the streets to give voice to all these issues.

Pico Metro Station
Los Angeles, California
en.wikipedia.org

Laura Bliss offers, "To close these gaps, higher-quality, affordable buses and trains are a critical part of the equation."  Public transportation gives women access to better-paying jobs, education opportunities, and health care.  Blogger does not need to repeat that more efficient and affordable public transit reduces harmful emissions, especially in neighborhoods greatly affect by road and industrial pollution-no coincidence minority communities.  A bonus, public transportation does not require a license or identification, and the fare is typically lower than other forms for transportation, particularly if you factor in pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.

Typical bus stop in Los Angeles, California
commons.wikimedia.org

Allocating public dollars on all manner of public transportation makes sense, for women and everyone: "The American Public Transportation Association estimates that every $1 invested in public transportation generates $4 in economic returns and that every $1 billion invested bolsters and creates more than 50,000 jobs." (http://www.apta.com)

Despite all the positives that public transit offers many women, there is a certain discomfort that accompanies it.  Unfortunately, gender- and race-base harassment is outrageous common on trains and buses.  Undocumented immigrant and Muslim women are the frequent targets because of the increased hostility and physical harm thanks to increased racist rhetoric in the public discourse.  Buses and train cars are approached with extra caution.

Women only subway car
Mirena Rhee Photography Project
Osaka, Japan
dimmer light.com

Be that as it may, not many American transit agencies have created services specific to the needs of women-i.e. safe measures, route planning, or a block of seats for nursing mothers.    This past November, a few cities had ballot measures to expand transit networks, highlighting the national trend of declining funding for transit.  The recession has also impacted public transportation: forcing networks to eliminate routes, cut service hours, and increase fares.  Laura Bliss writes, "The insolvent Highway Trust Fund has already made federal transit subsidies increasingly scarce."

It is unlikely that the situation will improve.  The Hill reports, that if President Donald Trump's first budget follows the Heritage Foundation's blueprint for federal spending cuts, large sums of the annual transit spending could disappear. (http://www.origin-nyi.thehill.com)  This includes $2.2 billion for major expansions, $510 million for community-centered transportation grants, and $153 million for the Washington D.C. Metro, already dealing with a perilous budget crisis.  One of the unknowns is newly install Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and what she will do with the DOT's budget, however Ms. Bliss points out, "...she worked with the Heritage Foundation for years.  And the Trump campaign's $1 trillion infrastructure plan-if it ever sees the light of day in Congress-would barely boost transit investments, let along in communities that need them the most."

Former-President Barack Obama
huffintonpost.com

Public transportation, like the economy, global warming, immigration, and health care, affects and belongs to women.  Ms. Bliss writes, "And it is ripe for a groundswell of intersectional feminist support: the kind of feminism that recognizes the divergent experiences of women of color-and queer women, trans women, Muslim women, women with disabilities, immigrant women-and fight for all, even when the stakes are lower for some."

Although women use public transportation in greater numbers, most American women, especially Caucasian women, still have access to an automobile and they vote.  Voting is an act in the interest of the greater public good.  We vote with the idea that we are making our communities, cities, states, and country a better place.  Yet, when it comes to voting on spending increases on public transportation, we suddenly become selfish voters.  We do not want to see our taxes increase to pay for a subway expansion.  This kind of thinking does an injustice to our neighbors in communities that rely on public transportation to get to work and school.  We want to be more ecologically conscious but how does that square with voting against a ballot measure designed to mitigate traffic congestion.  We want to say that we pro-economic growth but how is that possible when a woman cannot get to the store to do her weekly grocery shopping when she has to wait an hour for the bus?  Public health is also placed in jeopardy when we take the short-term view of increased spending on public transportation.  In essence, public transportation is a feminist issue.