A qualitative exploration of factors influencing women's intention to use shared taxis: A study on the characteristics of urban commuting behavior in Iran

Abstract

Compared with men, women have different travel behavior. Various factors may affect women's transportation-related decisions, especially in a developing country like Iran with a patriarchal culture. Moreover, distinct characteristics of some transportation systems in Iran, such as rounding and fixed-route shared taxis, whose properties are different from the conventional taxis in western countries, may lead to further differences in Iranian women's transportation mode choice behavior. Studies investigating women's travel behavior and transportation mode choice have often focused on quantitative modeling and mainly highlight the gender differences rather than identifying the underlying factors contributing to women's different behavior. To fulfill this gap, this study attempts to explore the factors and motivations affecting women's shared mobility choices, specifically, shared taxis, in a less developed country with specific socio-cultural structures. Such exploratory research may necessitate a qualitative study that can clarify the cause of the behaviors. Thus, in this study, the conventional content analysis with an inductive approach, in both the latent and manifest levels, was performed. In-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 students and working women living in Tehran (the capital of Iran) were conducted. According to the latent content analysis results, a complex set of factors contributes to women's intention to use shared taxis that can be classified into seven main themes with several sub-themes. The study showed that the fear of abuse and imaginary harassment strongly influence women's transportation-related decisions. Also, women may face direct and indirect restrictions from the family and society. The gender social halo and family norms, more prevalent in traditional and developing societies, may also challenge women's everyday mobility. Moreover, the impact of individual values and beliefs, as well as personality factors on women's travel behavior, cannot be ignored. Indirect social learning is another important factor identified as influential in using shared taxis. Manifest content analysis also resulted in three main categories, including environment-specific factors, trip-vehicle-specific factors, and individual-specific factors. The study attempted to provide more profound insight into women's transportation-related behaviors for policymakers in order to reconsider transportation planning. Also, findings highlighted the role of collaborative efforts of sociologists, psychologists, and transportation planners in tackling women's transportation-related issues in less developed countries with different socio-cultural norms from Western societies.