WOMEN AND TRANSPORT: FROM TRANSPORT DISADVANTAGE TO MOBILITY THROUGH THE MOTOR VEHICLE

Specific and detailed understanding of how the motor vehicle fits into contemporary Australian life, how, if at all, this is changing with societal restructuring, and how the motor vehicle is used differentially by social groups like women, the elderly or poor, is sorely lacking. With few exceptions, sustainable transport policy also exhibits little understanding of the factors determining car use. Without this knowledge, the effectiveness of policy measures to reduce the reliance on the motor vehicle will invariably be compromised. This paper examines the interconnections between the motor vehicle and social change for one social group - women. It sketches a response to one broad question: how are the economic, social and cultural circumstances of the 1990s determining women's transport patterns and car use? Clearly, women are not the only group of transport users worthy of attention. They do, however, have specific needs that merit analysis, while trends indicate that female motor vehicle use is increasing at a disproportionate rate to men's, thus challenging the relative effectiveness of policies intended to reduce motor vehicle use in urban Australia. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see IRRD abstract no. 890658.