Nidah
Dara

Born in Pakistan, raised in Kuwait and now living in Canada, Nidah is a grateful guest on the unceded Coast Salish Territories. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from Simon Fraser University and a Masters of Community and Regional Planning from the University of British Columbia. Nidah is now working in the City of Vancouver’s Rapid Transit Office and aims to apply a strong lens of equity and intersectionality to her work.

Her research interests lie at the intersection of housing and transportation. Addressing these topics together presents the opportunity to create affordable and walkable communities. Nidah strongly believes that mass transit has the ability to connect more people, especially women, to better-paying jobs, educational opportunities and healthcare. To create more sustainable cities, Nidah recognizes that it is imperative to understand how the climate crisis disproportionately affects Indigenous Peoples and communities of colour. It is important to Nidah to amplify the voices of those with such lived experiences.

PROJECT

By 2030 the City of Vancouver wants to ensure that two-thirds of trips in the City are by active transportation or transit. To achieve this target of sustainability and meet forecasted transit capacity needs, considering the needs of different users is crucial to offering accessibility within the transit network.

Emerging trends in academia and in transit first cities have pointed to the lack of systematic gender inclusion procedures for transportation. Moreover, the topic of gender and transportation is an intersectional issue involving the socioeconomic differences in needs. Gender differences in travel patterns are mainly accounted for by the division of roles in the labour market and the family, affecting employment conditions, income levels and mobility needs. The availability of public transportation outside rush hours, the physical and financial accessibility of transport facilities and safety conditions are some of the main aspects to be considered in designing gender-friendly transport systems.

The outcomes of this project will help the City better understand how to advance transit design and planning using a gender perspective.  The time is now to address this gap because a gender perspective in transport policies, planning and design can help reduce the inequality of mobility.