‘Bicycles are really important for women!’ Exploring bicycles, gender and development in Nicaragua and Uganda

Equitable active transport for female cyclists

“…These findings align with insight from Bangladesh where Mohiuddin et al (2022) noted that women are more likely to cycle for commuting trips and not for recreational trips. Hayhurst et al (2022) reiterated the huge value of bicycles for women as they contextualised their study in Uganda, they explored how bicycles are being adopted to key sustainable development goals, providing access for women, and ensuring gender equality. According to a study in Ghana, Timpabi et al (2021) recognised some cultural and societal norms that shape women's cycling behaviour suggesting that women do not have time to learn to cycle as they are busy with chores and other household tasks.…”

“…While studies Yang et al (2022) examining gender differences in active travel among older adults in Japan, and Graystone et al (2022) examining gendered perceptions of cycling safety in Canada are emerging to expand our knowledge about women cycling behaviour, there is little understanding of the explicit active transportation experience of women in developing countries. These women are sandwiched between disparity of societal expectations (Hayhurst et al, 2022;Timpabi et al, 2021), insufficient transport infrastructure such as clearly marked bike lanes or fully separated bike lanes, along especially major roads which are present in many developed countries (Krizek et al, 2005) and the inherent gendered-nature of cycling (Prati, 2018;Gerrard et al;2012). Specifically, this study aims to explore the experience of female cyclists, to understand the challenges, opportunities and initiatives for encouraging equitable active transportation in a country, where cycling is hardly recognised as a mode of transport, with no provision for basic cycling infrastructure and inadequate city planning general equity measures (Mogaji, 2022b).…”