Browsing by Author "McDonnell, Ania"

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    Advancing Equity in Accessibility and Travel Experiences: The Role of Gender and Identity
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2023-05) Song, Ying; Fan, Yingling; Zhang, Yaxuan; McDonnell, Ania
    Gender can have a significant influence on people's behaviors and experiences. Hence, excluding gender diversity in transportation research and practices can result in biased or incomplete understandings of issues and perceptions about transportation and quality of life. This study examined whether and how gender, in a broader sense, can result in distinctly different activity-travel patterns and subjective well-being (SWB) outcomes using survey data. The study reviewed existing literature and found that gender was not binary meaning that some gender identities were not solely female or male. The literature also indicated a person's gender typically intersected with their other social identities such as race and family type and created unique needs and experiences. To address the complex nature of gender, the team collected new data using the Daynamica smartphone application and included specific questions concerning (1) participants' gender identities and attitudes toward gender roles, (2) their share of household-supporting tasks in 14-day travel diaries, and (3) their emotions during trips and activity participation. The team used 2021 Daynamica survey data and 2019 Travel Behavior Inventory data from the Metropolitan Council to extract activity-travel patterns before and after COVID-19. The team associated these patterns with participants' gender and other identities and SWB outcomes through visual explorations and statistical analysis. The findings suggested the importance of capturing the complex, intersectional nature of gender, confirmed the persistent existence of gender differences in transportation needs, experiences, and SWB outcomes in Minnesota, and supported continuous efforts and investments to advance gender equity in transportation.
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    Gender Mainstreaming in City Comprehensive Plans, A Transportation Focus
    (2020-04-16) McDonnell, Ania
    Gender mainstreaming is an effective tool to shape policies and planning in order to equally benefit all genders. This paper addresses gender mainstreaming practices with transportation policies, specifically with city comprehensive plans. Transportation is necessary for individual mobility, access, and economic engagement with society. Due to the economic disparities among groups of people, low-income people and women are often faced with different spatial and time mobility. Transportation policy is driving the planning process directly on the local level, through city comprehensive plans, specifically in the transportation section. City comprehensive plans are a broad and general document that set the vision for the city planners and policy makers for the next 20 years. This paper analyzes four city comprehensive plants transportation section alongside existing gender disparities in transportation to address whether the plans are serving the needs of all people and the existing disparities in the transportation system. Gender and transportation are overlooked in the present because there are no measures, guidance, or participation of users in the planning of the document or the systems in place. This paper goes beyond just quantifying gender and gender disparities, by utilizing a mixed-method approach to understand the needs to create a more equitable and inclusive system.