01663627

Component

This paper studies the impact of multi-layered transport exclusion on the mobility and accessibility of Palestinian women in Jerusalem. Ethnic segregation, hostile social climate, poor infrastructure and low levels of public transportation create multifaceted barriers to daily travel throughout the city. This research sheds light on the individual needs and decisions of women in making their travel choices in an exclusionary urban environment. This research is based on in-depth interviews and focus-groups with Palestinian women living in East Jerusalem, under an ethnocentric regime. It examines their public transport and private car use, in light of physical and psychological barriers. Interviews find that cultural and social pressures and the sense of exclusion and fear pose significant limitations to public transport use and destination choice, alongside poor infrastructure, low service levels and discriminatory planning policies. Many women internalize expectations of violence and exclusionary linguistic and visual cues, which serve as fear-based barriers for public transport use. Women’s responses fall into a number of categories: avoiding West Jerusalem and minimizing travel; adopting private cars as safer and more practical or, at times, accepting and barreling through fears.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABE70 Standing Committee on Women's Issues in Transportation.

18-03395

English

18p

2018

Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; Maps; References

Accessibility; Females; Mobility; Mode choice; Travel behavior; Urban transportation

Palestinians

Jerusalem

Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Society

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2018 Paper #18-03395

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 8 2018 10:50AM