Gender Action Plan (GAP)

Metro has developed a Gender Action Plan (GAP) based on the recommendations from the 2019 Understanding How Women Travel (UHWT) study. This report is the first step in Metro’s process to better understand and better serve the needs and preferences of women riders. The GAP is a tactical plan to implement safety, fare policy, service and design changes that will improve the travel experiences of women. The Gender Action Plan will include actions to support this gender equity on Metro’s system.

Study: Understanding How Women Travel

Gender Action Plan 

Email: GAP@metro.net

Phone: 213.922.3GAP / 213.922.3427

Returnship

Returning to work after a career break is challenging, both in terms of finding a job or re-launching a career. The initiative is to provide an internship opportunity for returning mid-career professionals who had taken a career break due to responsibilities as a stay-at-home parent, caregiver of a family member or a military spouse.

New and Expecting Parent Resource and Lactation Rooms

Twenty-nine percent of Metro’s workforce is female, 73% are within child bearing years. The recommendation is to provide a more comprehensive resource guide that demonstrates Metro is committed to supporting staff with family responsibilities, as well as creating a welcoming environment for their return to work by providing lactation rooms at all locations in a manner that is compliant and accessible.

Metro Mentoring Pilot Program

It is important for women leaders to be confident in their skills and abilities. This confidence is vital to making tough decisions and performing other necessary leadership tasks. The goal is to empower women at Metro by connecting them with current leaders at Metro to build long-term relationships and obtain knowledge from those who have experience in the field of interest.

Women’s Career Fair

A Metro Women’s Career Fair would be an innovative way to recruit female talent and the first of its kind. The fair will provide career advancement workshops in resume writing, interview tips, salary negotiation and developing an elevator pitch.

Internal Certification Pilot Program

The focus of this pilot program is to support individuals looking for a promotion, as well as the ability to transition between departments for more career opportunities. This initiative will help to achieve Metro staffing being reflective of the diversity of the community we serve and to ensure that women have equal access to the opportunities provided by Metro.

Gender Data Across Metro Mobility Services

Collecting gender identity data for Metro’s mobility services would allow the agency to track travel patterns and customer choices across mobility services, which would provide insights for transportation planning that can enhance the customer experience for women and girls.

Prioritizing Transit Stop Lighting

The initiative recommends overlaying a women and girls lens on future grant requests in order to prioritize the completion of lighting improvements on remaining bus stops that have been identified as having high crime and poor lighting. In addition, the initiative recommends adding a lens on all new procurements of service to ensure adequate lighting standards at stops.

Gender Sensitive Operations with MicroTransit

Metro’s pilot Microtransit Program offers a unique opportunity to test gender-sensitive business approaches to improve conditions for women and girls with a new mobility service. Working within the parameters of the MicroTransit contract, the recommendation is to build upon existing tasks in the scope of work to improve the overall customer experience and better serve women and girls.

Designate Seating for Pregnant Women and Parents with Children

Transit options that present solutions to pregnant women traveling with small children, multiple packages, strollers and women’s chain-travel patterns, must be considered. The goal is to create & pilot on our rail system accommodations for women’s and families’ special needs by designating priority seating or dedicated space for pregnant women and parents with young children.

Small Business Workshop Series

Providing support to women-owned businesses via education on how to obtain SBE and DBE certifications, and hands-on support in applying for these certifications, are paramount to their ultimate success in the Metro contracting process. The initiative recommends that Metro implement a Small Business and Certification Workshop Series pilot program to provide information on how to do business with Metro, the benefits of achieving SBE and DBE certification and real-life success stories.