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In hopes of making Ottawa the most livable city in North America, the municipality revised the New Official Plan in 2021 to achieve the 2050 target of zero carbon emission for climate change through a massive shift to public transportation. The current Transportation Master Plan, however, lacks quantitative and adequate measures to prioritize women's needs and preferences, despite its second theme of “creating a more equitable transportation system”. Inattention to women's safety and accessibility disproportionately impacts them, especially women in areas with limited transportation access and lower incomes, exacerbating their access to education or job opportunities, progress toward gender equality, and existing inequalities. This challenge hinders the creation of inclusive, safe, and sustainable transportation systems, that promote economic growth and equal opportunities for all. Facilitating women with safer and more equitable public transportation is crucial in promoting gender equality, reducing inequalities and the sustainable development of communities in Ottawa.
The proposed solution aims to improve women's safety and commuting experience by increasing the presence of uniformed service officers and volunteer safety commuters, particularly female officers. The solution involves encouraging all service officers, including police officers, firemen, servicemen, special constables, members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), and nurses, to use public transportation while off-duty and wear visible uniforms during the entire trip. This solution is technically feasible and requires no new technology. However, officers living far from public transport may require financial incentives to implement the solution. Despite potential resistance from some officers to wearing uniforms while off-duty, we believe that the solution would be socially acceptable if the right stakeholders are involved in the decision-making process and the proposal is properly communicated to the public. The expected benefits of this solution, including “improved sense of safety and better commuting experience for women”, will outweigh the cost.
While we are very convinced of the positive impact of our solution proposed, we acknowledge that we are both not native and familiar with Ottawa city and the social constraints of the different stakeholders. Therefore we wish we could have the chance to know more about women’s need (FAIRLY LITTLE DATA AVAILABLE ON THIS MATTER regarding Ottawa reality), and also the reality of the concerned officers.
Would we have more time, we would wish to investigate on this to identify the potential limitations and obtain feedbacks.
Special attention will be made to consult all stakeholders in order to explain the intention, identify the resistance/concerns and obtain their support.