Exploring women’s transport journeys
February 2024
Has there ever been a better time for women in transport and planning? AITPM President Liz McGregor doesn’t think so.
“The public and private sector are keen to see more women, from graduates to leaders, in the sector, and that makes sense, because women bring unique experiences and ideas,” she says.
Liz is one of several AITPM members who feature in a special AITPM video to mark International Women’s Day 2024.
Filmed at the AITPM National Conference in Melbourne last year, the members explain how they came to work in the industry, what they enjoy about their work, and offer advice to newcomers.
The co-convenor of this year's conference in Perth, Fiona Goodbody, says she joined the sector by fluke after she started chatting to somebody at a TEDx event.
“They mentioned they were looking for people with social science degrees to work in travel and behaviour change – I didn’t know what that was, but I was really interested as I rode a bike and used public transport,” Fiona says. “I took a six-month contract and that was the start of my career in transport.”
AITPM CEO Kirsty Kelly says that in the past three years, the number of female AITPM members has increased by an incredible 86% while male members increased by 32%.
“Similarly, more women than ever before attended our National Transport Conference last year - we think these figures reflect just how much the industry is changing in terms of gender balance,” she says.
“AITPM’s recent governance changes will also help AITPM to remove barriers to achieving gender balance on our Board. We are continually looking at ways to encourage more professionals and practitioners into the sector, with a real focus on women.”
AITPM encourages members to host their own IWD events or to attend the NSW IWD Lunch and Technical Seminar.
Resources are available at at https://unwomen.org.au/get-involved/international-womens-day/ and internationalwomensday.com.