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Accessibility and transport choice

• The most predominant mode of travel for women in rural areas remains walking and headloading. Women in Africa can transport at least three times more ton per kilometer per year than men. (Barwell, I. 1996. Transport and the Village. Discussion Paper No. 344. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.)
• Men usually get access and priority for the use of cars/ private motorized modes of transport: a survey in Nigeria showed that the decision to acquire a car is made solely by the husband in nearly 60% of households; in rural areas, men are three times more likely to use a car than women. (Odufuwa, B. O. 2007. Women’s Participation in Household Automobile Decision Making in a Developing Economy – Nigeria. Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 4, No. 6 pp. 379-345.)

Affordability

• Women have been found to spend a greater share of their disposable income on public transport than men. A study in Uganda showed that women spend as much as 29% of their income on public transport. (R. Kamuhanda, and O. Schmidt 2009. Matatu: A Case Study of the Core Segment of the Public Transport Market of Kampala, Uganda. Transport Reviews, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 129-142.)

Access to education and health services

• It is estimated that 75% of maternal deaths could be prevented through timely access to essential health care. Transport and road infrastructure play a key role in accessing that care. Yet, in many cases, considerable time is spent by women and their families waiting for transportation and emergency travel to reach a health facility often has to be undertaken on foot or by local forms of ‘non-motorized transport’ (Babinard, Julie and Roberts, Peter, 2006. Maternal and Child Mortality Development Goals: What Can the Transport Sector Do?)