Source: LADOT

Source: LADOT

Play Streets event. Source KDI.

Gender-related travel challenges graphic from Next Stop.

Source: LADOT

Source: LADOT

next stop

KDI worked with the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) to make Los Angeles public transportation more affordable, efficient, and safe for Angelenos of all genders. 

context

Source: LADOT

In 2022, LADOT partnered with KDI to turn the findings from their gender equity transportation study, Changing Lanes, into actions.

LADOT's 2021 Changing Lanes study found that LA's transportation system falls short for over half of Angelenos–women and people with other marginalized genders. These riders face long travel times, experience difficulty traveling with dependents and cargo, pay a greater share of their income on travel, and experience fear and danger getting where they need to go. 

Next Stop: a Gender Equity Action Plan is a historic step toward realizing LADOT's commitment to a gender-inclusive transportation system. As the Department's first-ever plan of its kind, this report is a roadmap of 32 short- and long-term actions to create a safe, affordable, and efficient transportation system for all Angelenos. Because Changing Lanes established that race and income compound gender-related travel challenges, Next Stop pays particular attention to the transit needs of BIPOC women and people with other marginalized genders living in low-income areas. By prioritizing the needs of residents with the greatest barriers to travel, LADOT can build a better transportation system for all.

process

In-person Resident Advisory Committee meeting. Source: KDI

Next Stop is part of a two-year initiative to translate the findings and recommendations in Changing Lanes into an actionable roadmap for meaningful progress toward gender equity across LADOT’s operations and services.

To develop Next Stop, KDI and LADOT:
  • Engaged the Next Stop Resident Advisory Committee to shape and prioritize actions to help ensure they reflected the priorities and experiences of those most affected by gender-related travel challenges;
  • Convened the Next Stop City Working Group to shape inter-departmental actions to ensure they were actionable, realistic, and addressed the greatest challenges and opportunities for cross-departmental collaboration;
  • Conducted a gender equity audit of LADOT to identify the greatest challenges and opportunities related to gender equity within LADOT’s operations, services, and programs;
  • Undertook international case study research to adapt lessons learned from other cities and transportation agencies to the Los Angeles context;
  • Piloted an approach to address high-priority gender-related travel challenges.

solution

Next Stop actions fall within four themes. The first theme, Internal Operations, includes actions LADOT must take to establish the tools, systems, and processes necessary to implement and evaluate actions in the themes that follow. The remaining themes–Efficient Travel, Safety and Comfort, and Affordability–include actions that address the greatest gender-related travel challenges.

Internal Operations actions integrate gender equity into LADOT internal operations and lay the groundwork for the successful implementation of all other Next Stop actions. For example, two actions in this theme direct LADOT to integrate gender equity criteria in two key decision-making processes the Department uses to prioritize projects and allocate funding. 

Efficient Travel actions reorient the transportation system to efficiently align with women’s travel patterns. These changes will reduce overall travel time, especially for trips with multiple stops, and provide efficient travel to care- and household-related destinations. 

Safety and Comfort actions respond to the disproportionate dangers people with marginalized genders experience while traveling. These actions focus on improving comfort and actual and perceived safety using and waiting for transit and using active transportation, like walking and bicycling. 

Affordability actions seek to reduce overall travel costs and increase the affordability of transportation modes best suited to the travel patterns of women and people with other marginalized genders. While aimed at addressing the fact that women tend to spend a larger share of their income on transportation, these actions will make transit more affordable for all.

Read the Action Plan here.

impact

Gender Equity Action Plan Handbook Cover. Source: KDI

Already, this project has set an example of inter-agency collaboration and demonstrated how the City of Los Angeles can work toward addressing gender and racial equity when agencies and residents work together.

While developing Next Stop, we saw the opportunity to multiply this project’s impact by creating a Gender Equity Action Plan Handbook (GEAP Handbook). This Handbook will be a tool for public agencies and practitioners interested in reshaping the public realm into one that works well for everyone. This step-by-step guide to developing an agency-specific action plan will help public agencies drive change by establishing a collective vision around gender equity, identifying critical tasks and players, and embedding gender equity considerations into all future decision-making processes.