Analyzing significant variables for choosing different modes by female travelers

Bangladesh is one of the world's strongest emerging economies. This nation is working on improving women's empowerment, with more women entering meaningful employment, and socio-cultural constraints on women's mobility gradually decreasing over time. However, for women in Bangladesh, travel constraints are currently more significant than cultural constraints. Therefore, to sustain the nation's economic growth, challenges to women's mobility must be resolved by developing a gender-inclusive transport system. To achieve this, proper transport planning is necessary. The aim of this research is to understand the significant variables contributing to Bangladeshi women travellers' mode choices. The main contribution of this article is to present an analysis of women's travel issues according to a range of income classes. The methodological approach adopted for this research is the mixed method approach of quantitative (Artificial Neural Network Model (ANN)) and qualitative (workshop discussions) analysis. Overall, Bangladeshi women commuters are vulnerable irrespective of their travel mode. From the discussion workshops we found that even though women face harassment during their daily commute, often they cannot change to another mode due to financial constraints. From the ANN model we found that uncontrolled fares, poor road conditions, lack of comfort, high cost, lack of availability, onboard overcrowding, and lack of safety to be some of the significant travel related issues that need to be improved across all modes. Overall, we conclude that independence and equity have not yet been achieved for the mobility of women in Bangladesh.