AMMAN — The
education rate among women in Jordan is increasing. Nevertheless, their
participation in the labor market remains merely at 14.9 percent, and mobility
is one obstacle to women's finding work.
اضافة اعلان
A study conducted by Sadaqa,
a civil society organization, showed that 80.5 percent of the women surveyed
believe that public
transportation is integral for women's economic
participation. Yet, 47 percent of respondents stated they had turned down job
opportunities due to the current state of public transportation services.
'Lost'
opportunity Walaa, a woman from Irbid
Governorate, has to leave the house every day at 5:30am to commute to her job
in Amman. She pays out of pocket for a ride back using private transportation
because buses stop running at 5pm, AmmanNet reported.
"The topic of work has
become frustrating," she said. "Many in my family have asked me to
stop working."
"I lost a lot of opportunities due to the public transport situation."
Walaa's predicament is
threefold: she cannot afford a car, social norms prevent her from moving to
Amman, and she sometimes fears using private transportation services like
taxis.
Joumana Al-Masaeed, a young
woman from the Umm Jamal area in Mafraq Governorate, said: "I lost a lot
of opportunities due to the public transport situation."
Buses in her area stop
running as soon as the number of passengers drops below a certain level,
leaving Masaeed with the possibility of being stranded with no way to go
home.
'Fear for personal
safety'Women's use of public transit
is concentrated in the morning, with 51.8 percent of women using it during
early peak hours. Their use of public transport falls to 23.3 percent in the
evening, according to the Sadaqa study.
Jamil Mujahid, former
director of the
Transportation Authority, said: "Safety and security are a
basic requirement for women, and the transportation system does not meet the
needs of working women."
He also confirmed that the
poor transportation state influences women's low participation in the
workforce, especially in remote rural areas.
Only 1.8 percent of women
reported using public transit at night.
The study cited "fear
for personal safety and security" and noted that many riders "adopt
inefficient travel patterns" to avoid harassment.
Many women "prefer using
buses to 'service' cars because it gives them the option to sit beside other
women," it added.
Long-term fixAlthough surveys worldwide
show that women support the idea of gender-segregated public transit, such
separation "cannot be seen as a long-term fix", the study
reported.
Instead, the organization
recommended safety measures such as "better lighting, continuous
surveillance, and easier access to the police/security apparatus," as well
as hiring more women as public transit operators.
"
The Land Transportation Regulatory Authority (LTRA) is concerned with providing safe transportation to
all parts of the Kingdom and has already begun reviewing the transit lines in
Irbid and Zarqa," spokeswoman Abla Al-Wishah told a local media outlet.
Urban expansion and the rural
nature of some regions, she said, are some detrimental factors to improvement.
The LTRA has put forward an
investment invitation for those interested in operating bus lines and is
reducing the maximum capacity of buses from 24 passengers to 14 passengers.
Many women "prefer using buses to 'service' cars because it gives them the option to sit beside other women.”
As for transit schedules,
Wishah said that economic conditions "play a role". There is no
problem arranging with bus owners to be present during the peak hours from
early morning to 9pm, she said.
Many bus lines in Jordan are
run by private operators without a fixed schedule.
Jordan has taken steps to
start consolidating public transit lines. The Passenger Transport Regulation
Law of 2017 requires individual owners to merge into a single company or submit
to a single line management company for their region.
Read more National news
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
