Does Planning Around Commutes Overvalue Men's Needs?

Streetsblog's Network Roundup picks up an analysis of U.K. transportation data that basing transportation infrastructure decisions on commuting.

In her blog spatial fairness, Katja Leyendecker cites data showing that nearly a quarter of trips made by men in the U.K. are for the purpose of commuting. But commuting takes second place for women, who tend to make more and shorter trips.

So planning transportation infrastructure primarily around commuting "undervalues trips by women, and contributes to a built environment that is poorly suited to women's needs," as Streetsblog puts it.

Leyendecker writes:

In order to make designs environmentally effective and create gender-inclusive networks, we need to incorporate all ways of travel in our assessments… By leaving out the women-type trips of shopping and visiting others, we could miss out on building useful networks on a neighbourhood level to make it possible to cycle quick errands, cycle with kids and transport shopping by bike.