[sustran] Women make better, safer bus drivers ??

[Roselle Leah K. Rivera]

The Philippines has a less than a year old president and people are looking for fresh perspectives on how to tackle the mind boggling concerns of running a metropolitan area in a developing context.  This time, gender is the center of attention, at least, at this moment in time of the new year,  to calm the nerves of many. It is a generally disheartening situation in the Philippines-- this urgent job of addressing safety issues in the context of a (1) fossil fuel dominated and predominantly privately owned vehicles in the public transportation system (2) reality where it is difficult to enforce-the-rules for the public good.




MMDA: Women make better, safer bus drivers 
By Miko Morelos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:55:00 01/09/2011

Filed Under: Women, Road Transport, Health and Safety at Work, Research
MANILA, Philippines—Here’s a proposal from the head of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) that might stir up yet another debate between the sexes.
According to MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino, one way to reduce accidents on the roads would be to put women behind the wheel of public utility buses (PUBs) since according to studies, the fairer sex are safer drivers.As if to prove his point, he cited the string of accidents involving male drivers since the start of the year and said that female PUB drivers should make commuting a lot safer than it is now.
Help from LTFRBIn a text message to reporters, Tolentino said he plans to course his proposal through the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
In turn, he expected the LTFRB to encourage operators and owners of public utility vehicles (PUV) to be more open to hiring women as drivers, Tolentino added.
He pointed out that since most of the leaders of transport groups were women, the ideal situation would be to allot half of the slots for drivers to women “or better yet, 100 percent.”
Tolentino said that “[women] drivers would give [operators] less headaches because they are more safety-conscious.”
He cited “scientific studies conducted recently in the United States” that indicated that women were less aggressive behind the wheel, more law-abiding and concerned about the condition of the vehicles that they were driving.“It’s in the genes of the males who tend to be hot-headed on the road,” he added.
Comparative studiesAlthough Tolentino did not specify what studies he was referring to, a check by the Inquirer of different news websites showed supporting conclusions from comparative studies of men and women drivers.In August 2010, the New York Times published a story based on a study of a city traffic survey conducted by the New York Transportation Commission.
According to the study, women were less likely to figure in road accidents than men.Also last year, the Jerusalem Post ran an article citing a nongovernment organization’s analysis of a survey regarding drivers in Israel. The conclusion was similar to the New York study’s findings.
More men in fatal mishapsRecords of traffic mishaps also showed that “lady drivers are seldom involved in fatal accidents,” Tolentino continued as he pointed out that drunk drivers who figured in deadly crashes were mostly men.
He also said that men were more likely to be traffic offenders compared with women.A cursory glance of insurance records further showed that female drivers figured in fewer road accidents, Tolentino added.
Besides, “female drivers wear seatbelts,” the MMDA chairman said.  
ROSELLE LEAH K RIVERA Faculty Department of Women and Development Studies College of Social Work and Community Development University of the Philippines Diliman Quezon City PHILIPPINES



--- On Sun, 1/9/11, ashok datar <datar.ashok at gmail.com> wrote:

From: ashok datar <datar.ashok at gmail.com>
Subject: [sustran] Re: Delhi Metro - A Transport Planner's Perspective
To: "V. Setty Pendakur" <pendakur at interchange.ubc.ca>
Cc: NewMobilityCafe at yahoogroups.com, sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org
Date: Sunday, January 9, 2011, 6:46 AM

Yes, Delhi is best compared with Beijing. Besides, in Indian context, it is
important that we must identify cost /benefit in a more comprehensive manner
for alternative mass transportation projects and such an analysis should
consider the external economies such as effects on environment, low carbon
life style, affordability to a majority of population and whether it leads
to a switch from cars to public transportation.
from these angles, BRTS will come far superior than metro in  most cases
ashok datar


On Sun, Jan 9, 2011 at 4:39 AM, V. Setty Pendakur <
pendakur at interchange.ubc.ca> wrote:

> A realistic comparison would be Shanghai and Beijing.  Washington, DC does
> not have the same catchment area population and neither are car ownership
> rates comparable.
>
> Delhi Metro, like several other places, is an empire unto itself and they
> can afford to get concerned about major issues such as land use or
> solvency.
> --
>
> Best wishes; Setty
>
> Dr. V. Setty Pendakur
> Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia
> Honorary Professor, China National Academy of Sciences
> Senior Counselor, The State Council of the PRC
> President, Pacific Policy & Planning Associates
> 1099 Marinaside Crescent, Vancouver, BC
> Canada V6Z 2Z3
> T: 1-604-263-3576; M:1-604-374-3575
> Fax: 1-604-263-6493
>
>
>
> From: <bruun at seas.upenn.edu>
> Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2011 17:48:20 -0500
> To: <sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org>, <NewMobilityCafe at yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [sustran] Re: Delhi Metro - A Transport Planner's Perspective
>
>
> If a 180 km long network is carrying 1.6 million per day, this can
> hardly be called a failure. This is over double what the Washington DC
> regional metro network of the same length carries, and it is crush
> loaded in parts of the network at rush hours.
>
> I am not surprised that the DMRC doesn't cooperate with other
> organizations. This is always potentially a problem when one creates a
> new private corporation. But keep in mind that without creating a new
> corporation it would never have been built. The existing government
> bureaucracies were incapable of building anything in a timely fashion.
> So the solution is to restructure the organizational relationships and
> build different contractual and organizational structures, not throw
> out the concept of building high capacity systems.
>
> Yes, the overhead rights-of-way can be intrusive, but would it be
> better to build motorways in the sky instead? This is the real choice,
> not feeding starving Indians. If we were to wait in the US until all
> poverty was gone before we built decent PT, we would still be waiting.
> If you can show me a case where the REAL choice is between better
> healthcare, food, or education instead of better transport, I will
> agree that the PT should be postponed.
>
> Eric Bruun
>
>
> Quoting Faizan Jawed <phaizan at gmail.com>:
>
> >    <http://indiastreets.wordpress.com/author/phaizan/>  Delhi Metro - A
> > Transport Planner's
> >
> Perspective<
> http://indiastreets.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/delhi-metro-a-transport
> -planners-perspective/>
> > *Faizan <http://indiastreets.wordpress.com/author/phaizan/>* | 7 January
> > 2011 at 07:37 | Categories:
> > zz<http://indiastreets.wordpress.com/?category_name=zz>| URL:
> > http://wp.me/p15YEC-aA
> >
> > At a time when the Delhi Government, politicos, media and the
> middle-class
> > is raving about Metro Rail as a panacea to all traffic woes in Delhi
> > (traffic congestion included), an objective assessment of its performance
> > and appropriateness is highly warranted. Built at a cost that could
> provide
> > free bus-based public transport, and high quality non-motorized [...]
> >
> > Read more of this
> >
> post<
> http://indiastreets.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/delhi-metro-a-transport-planne
> rs-perspective/>
> >
> > Add a comment to this
> >
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-- 
Ashok R.Datar
Mumbai Environmental Social Network
20 Madhavi, Makarand Society, S.V.S.Marg, Mahim-400 016
98676 65107/0222 444 9212 see our website : www.mesn.org
* I hear, then I forget.  I see, then I remember. I do, then I understand.*
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