Shared Mobility by Region: South America

The Nina App, created in Fortaleza and a previous EmpowerWISM finalist, offers a novel way to report public transport sexual harassment, benefiting both victims and witnesses. By integrating with the city’s transport app, it activates bus security cameras upon a report, aiding in assailant identification. It points to nearby support centers and collects data to inform government prevention strategies. This collaboration highlights a proactive approach to tackling harassment, blending technology with public safety efforts. More than 65% of paying public transport users are women, especially black members of the underclass – in Brazil CDE class (ITDP, 2018). However, sexual harassment, for example, was only criminalized in Brazil in 2018. Since then, there are still no clear reporting channels, guidelines, or plans to combat gender violence in the context of urban mobility. There is still a lack of consolidated data on official government bases and clear public combat policies. In this sense, NINA’s vision is, in up to 10 years, to provide companies and the government with grounded information to understand why public spaces are unsafe and to favor combat and safety actions for these women. This way ensures that no woman suffers gender-based violence when traveling. NINA’s approach fosters safer and more inclusive urban environments, particularly for women. By encouraging reporting and leveraging data for decision-making, it aims to make cities more welcoming for marginalized communities. Addressing gender-based violence in transportation enhances women’s sense of security, fosters their engagement in urban life, and helps prevent their withdrawal from educational and professional opportunities. Source: https://movmi.net/blog/empowerwism-2023-top-3-finalists/

UpGirl

UpGirl is a Chilean start-up and a previous EmpowerWISM applicant. Their goal is to generate great social impact in the lives of women and their families, providing the best mobility experience and creating a powerful community that provides solutions to their main pains, problems and needs. For that they have developed UpGirl, a female mobility app that connects only female drivers with female passengers incorporating a new verification, travel and business model. They are creating a strong community where crimes of a sexual nature are prevented in transport that suffer both, female drivers and passengers, family mobility that falls mainly on women is solved, a tool to generate income in a flexible and adaptive way in times of economic crisis, empowering in labor areas that have been dominated by men and a meeting point to go further. Currently, UpGirl is focusing on working with companies and creating and offering mobility with a gender focus for those with a social responsibility. As we look at how transportation is changing in South America, it’s clear that new technologies and ideas are making travel better for everyone. From an increase of bike sharing in big cities to car sharing services that reach new places, these changes are helping people move around more easily and in eco-friendly ways. There’s also a big push to make travel safer, especially for women, and to connect different ways of getting around so that everyone has equitable access to new and improved shared mobility modes. All these efforts show that South America is working hard to improve how we all travel, making it safer, greener, and more connected for the future.

Article republished from Movmi’s blog: https://movmi.net/blog/latin-america-shared-mobility/