<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/women-bus-drivers-overcoming-stereotypes-in-bogota/>
"When Paola Perez shifts into gear and puts her foot down on the accelerator,
the lime-green bus zips forward with an almost-silent
whoooosh. Neat rows of
dozens of identical vehicles are visible on either side through its large
rectangular windshield.
“This is a very beautiful place to work,” says Perez, as she steers the bus
through the pleasingly symmetrical universe of white lines, smooth gray asphalt
and angular metal platforms that house nearly 200 electric charging stations.
“It’s new, it’s clean and it all works.”
This impressive space in the southwest of Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, which
opened in September 2022, is the headquarters of a project taking a rare
gendered approach to urban mobility. Nicknamed
La Rolita — a diminutive of
the word for a person from Bogotá,
un rolo or
una rola — it is a public
transit operator largely driven by women.
“It feels like a sorority,” says Perez, 37, who has been a driver since the
start. “There’s a camaraderie. We speak to each other and help each other
whenever we can.”
By placing women at the heart of La Rolita, which employs about 300 female
drivers and is led by a female director, city authorities are creating a more
sustainable, safe, equal and just transport system in the sprawling metropolis
of eight million people."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
