Spatiotemporal Constraints Experienced by Female Ride-hailing Drivers

Abstract

As part of mobility transitions toward a more sustainable, smart, and resilient transportation, there has been a growing literature on ride-hailing services. These literatures tend to focus on the users, while little is understood regarding the drivers, particularly female ride-hailing drivers. Ride-hailing driver is often portrayed as a male-dominated occupation and female ride-hailing drivers are met with constraining stereotypes (e.g., less able to drive, easy to panic) and higher perception of risk (i.e., risk of harassment, street crime). This research explores the many narratives concerning female ride-hailing drivers drawing from a focus group with ride-hailing drivers, followed by a structured global literature review on female ride-hailing drivers, and contextualized with studies in Indonesian context. Findings identified spatiotemporal constraints experienced by female ride-hailing drivers, indicating a gendered mobility. This research concludes with future research direction and policy insights to address gendered mobility in the rise of ride-hailing services in Southeast Asia.