Many thanks to the Australian Research Council (ARC) who funded this work and to our co-authors: Debjit Bhowmick, @meghanwinters.bsky.social , Meead Saberi, Trisalyn Nelson, Chris Pettit, Kerry Nice, Danyang Dai, Mohit Gupta & @beckben.bsky.social
This may be in part explained through the location of off-road paths in Greater Melbourne, which typically privilege the direct, radial commutes mostly taken by men. This fails to serve the local, multi-stop journeys more commonly made by women.
We found that while 57% of women reported feeling uncomfortable in mixed traffic, nearly half (46%) of their travel distance was spent in these high-stress environments.
We found significant differences between the types of infrastructure women and men ride on, where larger proportions of the trips taken by men were made on off-road paths. A large proportion of trips made by women were on local roads - either within mixed traffic or on painted bike lanes.
In this study, we captured GPS data from nearly 20,000 bike trips from a representative sample of bike riders across Greater Melbourne. We compared the different types of infrastructure that women and men actually ride on, and how this compares to their preferences.
Excited to share our latest research, now published in the International Journal of Sustainable Transport: "Gender differences in bicycle infrastructure use and preferences: A disconnect between ideals and reality."
Article: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/XMQVJ...
Excellent & helpful study.
Infrastructure changes & traffic calming = biggest impact on cycling.
Behavioural programmes = biggest impact on walking.
In schools, cycle bus/train interventions and walking school buses work to increase active transport.
Loads of detail in the article👇
What works to increase active transport uptake? It's more than just infrastructure...
Led by @drlaurenpearson.bsky.social, we systematically reviewed the evidence to understand what actually works to boost walking and bike riding
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Safety is the #1 barrier in getting women cycling as @drlaurenpearson.bsky.social discusses in this interview
Here’s hoping politicians look at the facts rather than making comments saying that safe protected bike lanes are “derogatory” and “diminishing” towards women as Cr Aston did this week.
"Now more than ever, enabling more people to walk, cycle, and roll for their everyday trips is essential."
lens.monash.edu/@medicine-he...
This study concludes that infrastructure, eg separated cycle lanes & traffic calming, is critical for creating a safe environment for active travel.
Behavioural programs, eg tailored education or providing access to ecycles, are key for encouraging a diversity of people to travel actively.
Invisible Journeys: Understanding the Transport Mobility Challenges of Urban Domestic Workers by Babra Duri Domestic workers represent an essential yet invisible workforce within urban economies, especially in developing countries. Predominantly women in low-income, single-headed households, they often work informally and rely on buses or minibus taxis for suburb-to-suburb travel. Despite their contributions, their transport needs are overlooked in traditional planning, which prioritises CBD-centric routes over the suburb-to-suburb journeys that define their invisible commute. The purpose of this study is to examine the transport mobility patterns of live-out domestic workers in urban areas, focusing on Centurion, one of the affluent neighbourhoods in the Metropolitan City of Tshwane, South Africa. To assess the transport challenges faced by domestic workers during their commutes, a Likert scale was utilised. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics facilitated by the SPSS software package to identify key trends and patterns in the responses. The key challenges of domestic workers are high transport costs, lack of access to affordable transport modes like rail and long commute times. Minibus taxi is the most commonly used mode accommodating both standard and non-standard working hours. The study also found that most of the domestic workers working in Centurion are migrant workers. To reduce the need to travel to work, mixed-income developments, and inclusionary housing are some of the concepts that can be adopted in affluent suburbs like Centurion. These two concepts not only address the need to travel to work but also spatial inequality and promotion of social integration whereby affordable housing are created within higher income areas.
“Low-income women across different sectors share similar difficulties in accessing affordable, reliable, and safe transportation. Such challenges not only restrict their ability to work and participate in economic activities but also reinforce social exclusion…”
www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14...
Big thank you to the team of co-authors who pulled this together: @beckben.bsky.social @meghanwinters.bsky.social Matthew Page, Adrian Bauman, Robyn Gerhard, Nyssa Clarke & Laolu Arogundade
Enabling active and sustainable transport is more urgent than ever. Our new systematic review with meta-analysis, published in Transport Reviews, brings together global evidence on how we shift people from private cars to walking and bike riding.
Lens article: tinyurl.com/5fandmw4
Meet Dr. Lauren Pearson! She is a Research Fellow & Equity Lead at Monash’s Sustainable Mobility & Safety Research Group. She explores the link between sustainable transport, active mobility, & gender equity: research.monash.edu/en/persons/l...
Great to chat to the ABC about Victoria’s new 30-year Infrastructure Strategy. Infrastructure Vic recommend 30 km/h speeds on local streets, beginning around schools, playgrounds, and childcare centres - aligning with our recent paper published in Cities & Health.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03...
The 30kmh revolution: Rethinking speed for safer, happier streets
Our new article in @monashuniversity.bsky.social Lens: lens.monash.edu/2025/02/17/1...
@drlaurenpearson.bsky.social
Thanks, Stephen!
Cities globally have embraced 30 km/h speeds—yet in Victoria, Australia, they are not widespread.
Our new study, published in Cities & Health, delves into the challenges and opportunities of implementation of 30 km/h speed zones.
Lens article: lens.monash.edu/2025/02/17/1...
If you missed yesterdays @yarrabike.bsky.social Radio Show on 3CR the you can now listen in to the podcast.Dr Lauren Pearson joined us to discuss the Petal Project report and what is stoping young women in Melbourne from using their bicycles to get around. www.3cr.org.au/yarrabug/epi...
92% of young women want to ride a bike, but participation is 4 times lower than men of the same age. Released today, our research found that young women experience unique barriers to riding a bike, and are actively looking for programs to overcome them.
www.monash.edu/medicine/sph...
