In a transport sector that remains overwhelmingly male-dominated, the conference Donne e Mobilità – Politiche per la parità, le professioni e l’innovazione offered a powerful counter-narrative. Bringing together women from different cities, generations and professional backgrounds, the event made visible the depth, diversity and expertise that already exist within the mobility sector, but that are still too often marginalised in decision-making spaces.
What made this event particularly significant was not only who was in the room, but how the conversation was deliberately structured. Through a sequence of interconnected thematic focuses — from data and behavioural models, to public space and urban mobility, to gender policies within transport organisations — the programme reflected a systemic understanding of mobility. Gender equality was not treated as an add-on, but as a cross-cutting lens shaping the entire transport ecosystem. The programme unfolded around three interconnected focuses:
- How mobility is measured and understood through data;
- How cities, public space and services shape everyday mobility;
- How transport companies embed gender equality through governance, labour conditions and operational practice.
The strong presence of women in local and national institutions, including young women actively shaping more intersectional approaches to urban mobility in Italian cities, sent a clear political signal. In a country that continues to face structural gender inequalities, this visibility matters because it shows that change is not only necessary, but already underway. A recurring message throughout the event was the importance of fare rete: building networks, sharing experiences and learning across institutions and territories. While the challenges faced by women in mobility systems are well documented, the focus is increasingly shifting towards connecting solutions, scaling what works and learning collectively.
Donne e Mobilità stands out as an example of how feminist transport conversations can move beyond problem diagnosis towards collective action, institutional learning and systemic change.
Why “neutral” data hides inequality
The first focus addressed a fundamental yet often overlooked issue in transport policy: the relationship between mobility, data and risk, and how deeply this relationship is shaped by gender. Across national and city-level evidence from Italy, the discussion made one thing clear: mobility is not a neutral experience. Travel patterns, exposure to risk and safety outcomes are influenced by gender roles, access to resources, life stages and the organisation of work and care.
Data from major cities confirmed persistent differences in mobility behaviour. women tend to make more daily trips, often over shorter distances and for non-systematic purposes such as care, accompaniment and errands. These patterns reflect structural realities rather than individual preferences. Women are also more than twice as likely as men not to hold a driving licence, a gap that widens with age and is closely linked to economic factors, discontinuous career paths and long-standing gender norms.
Modal choice further highlights these inequalities. While private cars remain dominant overall, women rely more heavily on public transport and walking and are underrepresented in shared mobility services. As repeatedly emphasised during the panel, access to a service does not automatically translate into its use: safety concerns, time constraints and trip-chaining needs continue to shape women’s mobility decisions and limit real choice.
Road safety data challenged simplified narratives around vulnerability. Men account for the majority of drivers involved in crashes and most road fatalities, but at the same time, women, particularly older women, are more exposed as pedestrians and passengers, resulting in different risk profiles and injury outcomes. At national level, road risk emerged as a critical labour issue. In Italy, road accidents are among the leading causes of fatal workplace injuries for women, with nearly half of all occupational accidents occurring on the road (INAIL, 2025). The concept of infortunio in itinere (commuting-related accident) made this connection explicit, recognising accidents occurring during travel to and from work on foot, by bicycle or by public transport, and by car only when strictly necessary. Despite this framework, road risk remains systematically underestimated in workplace risk assessments, even as evidence shows a growing trend in road-related injuries.
These patterns reveal how transport systems continue to be designed around a narrow model of mobility that does not reflect lived realities. Understanding mobility-related risk through a gender lens is therefore not about adding women as a category, but about redesigning systems that have long been built around a single, male-centric model of movement and work.
Reclaiming the city: feminist mobility as public space policy
If the first focus demonstrated why mobility is not gender-neutral, the second showed how cities can actively transform inequality into opportunity. Feminist mobility policies are not about adding “women-friendly” measures; they are about reorganising public space around care, safety, autonomy and freedom. As several speakers stressed, not acting is never neutral, because failing to introduce gender-responsive mobility policies actively reinforces existing inequalities.
A recurring theme was the shift from treating safety as a restrictive issue that limits women’s movement to understanding it as a condition for freedom. Cities presented initiatives that fundamentally changed how women experience urban life at night, without militarising public space. Night-time accompaniment schemes, safe taxi vouchers, strengthened night public transport networks and the presence of support figures in public space enabled women to reclaim time, mobility and autonomy previously denied to them. This shift is not symbolic: it reshapes perceptions of belonging, citizenship and who the city is designed for.
Several interventions also reframed mobility as care infrastructure. Gender-sensitive urban atlases, participatory design around schools and care facilities, pedestrian-focused interventions and measures such as reserved parking linked to caregiving or work schedules showed how transport planning can respond to fragmented, intergenerational and care-related mobility patterns. Crucially, speakers insisted that these are not pinkwashing policies and that designing cities for women means designing cities that work better not only for them, but for everyone. A city that supports care is a city that redistributes opportunities, time and access.
Public transport emerged as a key site of feminist action because buses, trams and metros are public space. One of the most powerful examples discussed transformed a personal experience of harassment into a systemic response. Clear procedures for passengers, drivers and witnesses, accessible communication tools, QR codes on vehicles and collaboration with anti-violence centres shifted responsibility from individuals to the system. Rather than telling women how to protect themselves, these initiatives built a shared culture of care and accountability.
These experiences show that feminist mobility is not about isolated pilots, but about changing how cities define safety, responsibility and public space itself.
When transport works for women, it works better
Designing mobility for women is not a niche agenda, it is a strategy for better services, stronger economies and faster decarbonisation. The third focus delivered a clear message: when women can access transport jobs, move safely through cities and rely on mobility systems that recognise their needs, the benefits extend far beyond gender equality. Labour markets become more inclusive, public transport becomes a credible alternative to private cars, and mobility systems start serving real life rather than an abstract “average user”.
Several experiences demonstrated that meaningful change begins when gender equality is treated as a governance responsibility. In some transport organisations, like TPER, Bologna’s public transport company, commitment starts at board level, with formal adoption of international principles, structured gender assessments, dedicated budgets and continuous planning. What makes these approaches effective is not a single action, but the logic behind them: first understanding where the organisation stands, then planning with resources that are clearly earmarked, and finally acting on work–life balance, training, communication and increasingly on the supply chain itself. Training is not confined to offices. It reaches drivers and frontline staff, recognising that service quality is shaped every day in interactions with users. Communication campaigns explicitly address how violence, exclusion and even digital harassment influence how mobility is experienced. In this way, equality becomes part of daily operations, not a side project.
The railway sector illustrated how women are not only beneficiaries of change, but active designers of better mobility systems. Long-term policies on recruitment, working conditions and certification have increased women’s presence, including in management roles. Crucially, women within these organisations play a propositive role. Solutions such as reserved parking for night-shift workers emerged from listening to lived experiences: arriving late at stations, finishing early-morning shifts, navigating unsafe urban environments. What began as temporary measures were formalised, implemented with infrastructure partners and scaled territorially.
Gender-disaggregated data revealed gaps between perceived safety inside and outside stations, while participatory tools such as walkshops triggered deeper mindset shifts. Small, well-targeted interventions, when grounded in real needs, generated systemic effects, from reduced car dependency to improved working conditions.
The discussion also reinforced a critical idea: transport is never just a service, it is a social and cultural space where norms are reinforced or challenged. Campaigns addressing respect, consent and violence — displayed in stations, vehicles and even on tickets — turned mobility spaces into platforms for collective reflection. Importantly, these initiatives did not stop on symbolic dates. They acknowledged that violence and exclusion are structural issues, requiring sustained visibility and engagement. Internal communication tools and certification processes played a key role in fostering collective ownership. When staff recognise themselves in these values, equality becomes part of organisational identity rather than a compliance exercise.
The focus deliberately expanded beyond urban transport to include ports, logistics and industrial mobility, reminding us that transport systems are built along entire value chains. In the maritime sector, where most global trade passes, women remain largely invisible — not because they are absent, but because systems were not designed to see them. Making women visible through storytelling, exhibitions and dialogue with stakeholders created momentum for concrete change: improved facilities, new hiring practices and gender certification.
Logistics reinforced another critical insight: the sector is not neutral. Shift work, physical demands and rigid role definitions systematically disadvantage women unless technology, training and organisational design adapt. Without women, these sectors remain less competitive, less innovative and less resilient.
Closing the circle: from practice to collective commitment
Across all three focuses, one message consistently emerged: mobility systems improve when they are designed around real lives. Women are not only users, but workers, decision-makers, caregivers and community members.
Building on the shared experiences discussed throughout the event, Donne e Mobilità also marked an important step towards collective commitment. Participants announced the intention to launch a Charter for Women in Mobility, a shared political and practical framework calling on public institutions, transport authorities, public and private companies, ministries, researchers and practitioners to consolidate and scale positive actions for women’s mobility and for women working in the mobility sector.
The Charter does not start from abstract principles: a preparatory document is already in place, grounded in data, case studies and concrete practices presented during the event, from gender-responsive data collection and public space design, to organisational transformation, labour conditions and supply chains. Rather than proposing a one-size-fits-all model, the Charter aims to translate feminist transport values into actionable commitments across the mobility ecosystem, while remaining open to contributions and learning.
By anchoring political ambition in real-world practices, the Charter seeks to move the conversation from isolated initiatives towards shared responsibility and long-term institutional change.
When mobility systems enable women to participate fully in public space and in the labour market, the benefits extend to economic growth, climate goals and social cohesion. This is why Donne e Mobilità matters beyond Italy. It shows how feminist transport can move from diagnosis to action, from action to commitment, and from local solutions to global relevance.
