Public transportation and the travel needs of women

The existing literature relating to women's use of public transportation is reviewed. The kinds of travel needs that should be considered in developing suitable public transit alternatives for women are discussed, and two recent innovations that appear to meet the needs are described. Comments are made on case studies in Seattle, New York and some small cities. The recent innovations discussed are demand-responsive transit and the exclusive lane busways. The demand-responsive service which utilizes smaller vehicles (minibuses or taxis) is better suited to low or medium density areas with dispersed travel patterns than conventional fixed-route bus service. A recent study of an exclusive-lane commuter bus service in Miami revelaed that 70% of all passengers are women, 98% of all trips are work trips, and 25% of all passengers did not make the trip prior to institution of the service. Suggestions are made for future research.