Mobility & Access
Gendered Mobility & the Demand for Transport in Urban Ethiopia
How can transportation systems better support women's mobility, economic opportunity, and well-being?
Quick Facts
Location
Ethiopia
Research Area
Mobility & Access
Research Type
Field Experiment / Impact Evaluation
Status
Completed
Lead Organization
EconInsight & Columbia University
Partners
AidData
The Specifics
What we are doing
What We Are Doing
We are studying how transportation access shapes mobility and travel demand differently for women and men in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Through a field experiment with 1,000 couples, participants received travel credit for private taxi trips over two months. By varying whether the credit was offered to women, men, or couples jointly, we are examining how access to affordable, on-demand transportation affects travel behavior, destinations, and mobility.
What We Learned
Learnings
We are finding significant gender differences in how people travel, where they go, and the constraints they face. Women in our study travel less frequently than men and are more likely to limit travel because of safety concerns. They also have distinct travel patterns around work, shopping, and caregiving. Providing improved transportation access helped reduce some mobility constraints, with women using the service for longer trips on average and more often traveling alone or with children.
The Impact
Impact
The research highlights the importance of treating gender as a core consideration in transportation planning. Safe, affordable, and reliable transportation can expand women’s access to employment, education, healthcare, markets, and other services while supporting greater economic and social opportunity. Our findings can inform efforts to improve pedestrian infrastructure, public transportation, safety, and access for underserved communities, and directly speak to transportation initiatives in Addis Ababa, including the Non-Motorised Transport Strategy (NMT) and 2030 Strategic Comprehensive Transport Development Plan (SCTDP).
Collaboration
