MORE women must be involved in transport planning as a report reveals safety fears stop some from getting around cities.

Active transport charity Sustrans Scotland found worries about personal safety are a barrier to cycling and walking for women.

Published today, the organisation’s study Are We Nearly There Yet examined the travel habits of around 2000 women in Glasgow, combining this with a review of research on female mobility patterns across Scotland, the UK and Europe.

It found women do more “trip-chaining” than men, carrying out more multi-stop journeys which involve child care, work and other responsibilities across a number of modes of transport.

Researchers concluded that women wanted to get around under their own steam to boost their mental and physical health. However, safety worries, convenience when making many stops and appearance were barriers to getting active.

The organisation is now calling for more equal representation of women in transport planning and delivery. Currently just six per cent of transport bodies are headed by women, with feminist policy organisation Engender, which backs the call, claiming the sector has the lowest percentage representation of women in senior post in the whole of Scotland’s public sector.

The call comes three days before International Women’s Day.

Suzanne Motherwell, the charity’s evaluation manager, said: “If we are to get more people walking and cycling it is essential that we address the inequalities that exist between men and women in transport at every level from users right through to planning and policy making.

“By designing and building infrastructure that caters for women’s needs, as well as men’s, then we can help ensure the gap between the levels of women and men cycling is closed, and importantly, improve the overall everyday cycling levels in our cities and towns.”

Women were found to be three times less likely to get on their bikes in Glasgow than men, and the report says policy makers must “shift focus from expecting women to change their behaviour” to a new way of working that “considers the evidence and experiences”.

Meanwhile, research from 2016 by End Violence Against Woman found two thirds of women in the UK had suffered “unwanted sexual attention” like staring, exposure and other forms of harassment or “felt unsafe” in public, compared with just eight per cent of men.

One third of women had also received unwanted physical contact of a sexual nature in public, compared to only nine per cent of men.

Focus group volunteers told Sustrans they felt “frightened”, “uneasy” or “vulnerable” going out at night because of their gender, with one stating that men “will not get preyed upon as much”, and adding: “You’re encouraged to take a rape whistle with you. That is not an encouragement for someone going walking alone.”

Welcoming the Sustrans Scotland report, Engender executive director Emma Ritch commented: “Scotland’s travel systems are not designed around the needs of women, who tend to make shorter and more frequent journeys and are more concerned about their personal safety.

“This obliviousness is perhaps unsurprising given that women are massively underrepresented in transport bodies.

“Making active travel work for women makes it work better for all.”