Women-only bus service in Mexico City

We’ve already covered numerous examples of women-only taxi services over the last year or so, and now the idea appears to be spreading to public transportation as well. In Mexico City, where millions of women bus riders have long endured groping and verbal abuse en route every day, a new, women-only bus service aims to create a safer and more comfortable ride. Mexico City created women-only subway cars years ago, and police reportedly enforce the segregation at rush hour. Beginning earlier this month, however, the same concept has been brought to the city’s crammed buses under what’s known as the Athena Program. Equipped with pink signs on the front to distinguish them, Mexico City’s 22 women-only buses currently serve three busy routes throughout the day, and plans are in the works to bring the total to 15 routes by April 2008. “Women were asking for this service because of the sexual harassment, especially groping and leering,” Ariadna Montiel, CEO of the bus system, told the Associated Press. Women-only buses and (subway) trains have also appeared in Egypt, India, Brazil, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan, along with taxis in the UK, Russia, India, Dubai and Iran. This trend shows no sign of waning; next, in more car-centric locales, how about women-only parking garages…? (For more examples of how companies are targeting women, check out our sister-site trendwatching.com’s female fever briefing.) Spotted by: RK